


Is This Love?

by BooBear87



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Love, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-20 05:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 43,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4775780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooBear87/pseuds/BooBear87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tony Stark paid a surprise visit to his friend Dr. Dani Woods with the offer of a job, how could she refuse?<br/>"You'll want to be a part of this. You've never seen anything like it and you'll get to meet the team" </p><p>Could it.. He.. Feel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm a little odd, it's no secret. But I can't be the only woman in the world with a fetish for Vision right now.  
> It's not just smut (although we'll get to that part) so I hope you're ready for some romance, pain and love.  
> This is my first ever fic and I really hope you enjoy it.  
> Comments, feedback, constructive criticism is very welcome.  
> But like I said, first fic, so be gentle with me lol.
> 
>  
> 
> Head over to Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarvelFanfictionExtravaganza/  
> for more Marvel fics. It's a community of Marvel fans who write and read fanfiction. Started on 14/07/16 so it's not huge at the moment but we're certainly hoping to make it that way. Invite your friends, share your work and have some fun. See you there!

As Dani tied her long auburn waves in to a messy bun, about to sit on the sofa in her cosy one bedroom apartment and tuck in to the toast she had just made, her mobile began to ring.  
"Ugh" she scoffed, slowly walking back in to her kitchen were she'd left it.

"Hello?" she greeted.  
"HIIII DANIIIIIIII" the caller replied in a cheery, slightly pleading tone.  
"I know that voice" she thought "I need to end this conversation before it starts" So, with the one word she could think of that clearly described everything she was thinking, while giving her caller very little time to explain his intentions, she continued..  
"NOPE!"  
With that she switched off her phone, returning to the sofa with a small smile, feeling rather pleased with herself.

Just as soon the petite woman had sat back down * _knock, knock*._  
"Really?" she grumbled under her breath, throwing her head back and walking to the door.  
As the front door opened with a slight creek, there stood a brunette man with scruffy hair, groomed beard and a huge smug grin on his face. "What part of 'nope' do you not understand?" She asked walking back in to her apartment as the man followed closely behind, munching on a tub of blueberries.  
"All of it?" He replied, smug grin still plastered on his face.  
"Well then for a genius you're not all that smart, Tony." She scolded as she turned on the kettle and waved a cup in front of him with a questioning look on her face.

"Coffee, make it a HUGE one" he said.  
"The courteous thing to do when you turn up to someone's house at eight o'clock in the morning is bring coffee with you. Or just not turn up unannounced at insane o'clock. So, what do you want?"  
"Don't play coy with me. I know you've missed me." He teased as he flicked a berry, bouncing it off Dani's head.  
"I've got a job for you" he said, matter of factly as he scoffed the last of the blueberries.  
"Oh well then, I accept, oh great Mr. Stark!" Dani replied in a sarcastic tone, smiling and bowing in front of the man to further emphasise her sarcasm.

"Oh come on! We go way back! They're paying you peanuts at that job! You tell me what you want me to pay you, you can stay on site, bring that furry dribble thing under there" He said, gesturing towards her Doberman curled up in it's bed under the dining table where he pulled up a chair and unceremoniously slumped in to it.  
"I've already had quarters set up for you and your furry boyfriend".

"Presumptuous. For starters, you haven't even told me what this job involves, secondly if you don't put that empty box in the bin I'm going to make you eat it, and last of all, my Max doesn't dribble! Do you baby?"As if she'd expected to dog to jump and verbally defend himself from Tony's insult.

"You're the highest qualified person for this job. You've got a degree in psychology, you're a doctor of advanced robotics AND bio-mechanical engineering and you'll be using all of it! But it will be a challenge, even for you, my little micro-genius."

"Four foot ten doesn't count as 'micro', thank you very much. What on earth have you done now then? Ultron mark 2?!" She asked, dreading the answer.  
Tony had called on her two months ago after the Ultron disaster to assist him and Bruce from her own home in making sure that every trace of genocidal-bot, as she liked to call him, was removed from the internet.  
The two had stayed in touch after she completed her doctorate in advanced robotics eight years ago where she'd studied under him after she'd moved to Washington from her home in London.   
He always knew there was something special about her, and truth be told, he would have seen her as competition if she wasn't such a close friend, being that she was every bit as smart but was only 28 years old and he hated the way her English accent made her sound even more intelligent than he was. He knew she had a remarkable future ahead of her.

"You'll want to be a part of this. You've never seen anything like it and you'll get to meet the teeeaam" He said in a little sing song.  
She never could never resist his charm and her extremely curious nature was beginning to get the better of her.  
She hadn't seen the new Avengers facility yet and she was dying to meet all of them.  
Plus she was always in awe of Tony's new inventions, particularly Jarvis. She loved having a friendly fellow English voice to chat with when she visited and even though she understood exactly how he worked, she was always a little amazed that he managed to brighten her day and help her with anything she needed. She adored Jarvis.  
Not in a weird "I'm a virtual assistant fancying, weirdo" kind of way but he made her feel at ease and she saw him as a friend in an odd sense.

She was heart broken when she heard what Ultron had done to him and she knew she'd miss him.  
Maybe she could help to get him up and running again as Tony didn't have the time, what with the new facility and saving the world.  
Not to mention training the newbies as well.

"Ok, count me in then, Fancy Pants!" She beamed. "When do we go?"

"As soon as you're packed. Car's outside. Presumptuous, my ass.. I knew I'd crack you."


	2. Chapter 2

The car ride to the facility was amusing to say the least. Well, it was for Dani anyway.  
She'd been bundled in to the back of a stretch Hummer with her two cases and Max. Tony sat beside her with her lump of a dog sleeping on his lap, breathing his dog breath into Tony's squinting face for most of the journey.  
They had a nice four hours to catch up on what had happened since they last saw each other and she was pleased to hear that things were going well with Pepper although she dreaded the though of possible mini Starks.  
He hadn't let anything go about what she was expected to do in this new surprise job, no matter how much she asked or threatened to hide a Max poop somewhere in his lab when she got there.  
Several pee breaks later the car arrived at some large iron gates, attached to an enormous stone wall with what appeared to be electrified razor wire curled along the top.   
"Is that even legal?" She thought to herself, starting to feel a little nervous now.   
She hadn't had time to think about what it might be like to meet all of these incredible people.

"So, what are they like?" She asked Tony in a slightly cracking voice as the gates began to open.  
"You mean, will Capsicle be there and will he be wearing a shirt?"  
"Yes, that." She said, grinning from ear to ear, which earned an eye roll from Tony.  
"I don't get it. Just because he has dreamy cheek bones, or whatever it is you kids are in to these days. The guy's almost a hundred!"  
"Maybe so, but that ass is still 28!" She joked, shocked at her own comment she quickly slapped a hand across her mouth to stop any more crass comments from spilling out.

Just then the car came to halt on a grass verge outside of an enormous square building covered in mirrored glass from floor to ceiling.  
"Well, this is... err... a little plain for your tastes, is it not?" Dani asked, gawking out of the car window.  
"You haven't seen inside yet." Tony teased with a wink, standing outside of the car leaning in through the opposite door waiting for her to finish her staring and get out of the car. "Come on Short Round, we're losing daylight!" Although it was only past lunch time.

Dani and Max trailed behind Tony on the way to her quarters, taking in their surroundings with very little amazement.  
"It is plain. Where are the robotic assistants and flying cars?" She asked, semi-jokingly.  
"I didn't say it wasn't plain, I just wasn't going to stand there all day waiting for you and Minty Fresh to get out of the Car."   
"Here we are." Tony gestured to a door, handing Dani a key card after placing her cases on the floor.   
"Get yourself unpacked and tell Friday when you're done. I'll come and get you and give you the tour."   
With that he swaggered off down the huge white hall way leaving Dani to her own devices, not stopping to explain to the poor girl what a 'Friday' was.  
"Nice one, dick head" She aimed her muttering at Tony as she opened the door.

She entered in to an open-plan living area, all white walls with a kitchen in the far right corner, kitted out with glossy black doors, coffee machine, cupboards and fridge full of food and everything else she could possibly need.  
There was a glass door in the kitchen that lead out into a fenced off part of the surrounding grounds to serve as a garden.   
"Aww, he even thought of you, Maxy!" Dani cooed at her dog.  
The sitting area had two enormous brown fabric sofas that were bigger than her bed back home. To the left were two doors, the first one leading to a nicely sized bathroom with a big bath and a waterfall shower.  
The second door, she assumed was the bedroom, she picked up her cases and took them through, heaving them up on to the queen size bed before taking in the enormity of the room.   
She felt a little exposed with the windowed walls although she knew nobody could see in. She looked around the sides for curtains or maybe a button that activated blinds.   
Not having any luck she thought she'd try something a little more Stark.   
"Curtains." She said, feeling a little silly.  
"Blinds." Nothing happened.  
"Uh.. Non-transparent walls?"  
She shrugged at Max who was stood by her side, looking up at her with his tongue hanging out.  
"Can i assist you with something?" Came a woman's voice from nowhere.  
Dani screeched and she jumped "Hello?" she asked sheepishly.  
"Hello, I'm Friday, Mr. Stark's virtual assistant. I'd be happy to help you with anything you might need during your stay. Would you like me to reduce the transparency of the windows for you?"  
"So you're Friday! Not right now, thanks. Do I need to ask you to do it every time?" she wondered.  
"Yes Mam, but I have many other functions" stated the robotic voice, almost as though it was validating it's own purpose for being there.  
"I'm sure you do, Friday. Can you let Tony know I'm ready for the tour please. I'll unpack later."


	3. Chapter 3

Refreshed and ready to start her tour, Dani heard a knock at the door "Come in, it's open!" She yelled from the kitchen.  
As the door opened she saw Max bolt past her, tail wagging at a thousand miles per hour.  
"That's odd" She said to herself, setting her coffee down on the counter. She'd never known the dog to get so excited about Tony's presence.  
Just as she'd finished her thoughts a man came in to view. A massive grin appeared on her face as she let out a little girly scream, running towards the door to the man currently  
being licked all over by Max and returning his affection by ruffling his fur.  
"Hey buddy! Long time time no see!" Dani flung her arms around her friend, interrupting the man's conversation with her four-legged companion.

"Oh my god!" She squealed as the pair squeezed each other.  
"Hey, you. You ok?" Bruce asked her as pulled away slightly to get a good look at her, peering down at her through his glasses.  
"I'm great! I Didn't know you'd be here, Tony told me you went AWOL" she said with a slight look of concern.  
"Well, I took some down time. I've been back a few weeks. Heard you'd be here and Tony wanted me working with you, how could I refuse?"  
"Do you know what we're doing? He hasn't told me anything other than I'll want to see it". She fluttered her eyelids over her big blue eyes hoping Bruce might spill the beans and let her know what's going on.  
"Oh no, no, no, don't try that. I've been sworn to secrecy! Let's get this tour started. Stark's abandoned you,  
something about shwarma, I wasn't really listening, he'll be back later for the meet and greet."

After a long hour of being shown around training rooms, labs and apparently random empty spaces, the two headed to the common floor where Tony and a few member of the team were waiting to meet her.  
After a long, deep breath and brushing her hands down her black button down shirt and cropped leggings she gave Bruce a nervous smile and a nod, signalling him to open the door and reveal the people behind it that were eager to meet her.

As they entered the room they were met with Tony standing behind a counter with a screwdriver in hand, tampering with a coffee machine, a redhead woman sat on the sofa fiddling with her smart phone and two men seated at a small table playing cards.  
"HI!" Dani greeted them, a little louder than she'd intended. Simultaneously all of them except Tony snapped to attention, offering her friendly smiles and heading towards her.  
"Sup, Tiny!" Tony called called over, not taking his eyes off of his seemingly important work.  
The first to introduce themselves was a black man, tall and rather nice looking, she guessed he was in his late twenties.

"Hi, I'm Sam. Great to meet you" He beamed as he placed a kiss to the back of her hand.  
The next was someone she'd recognised instantly "It's great to have you back" Steve beamed wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug.  
Dani spent a gret deal of time with Steve the last time she'd visited Stark tower. They went out for lunch when Tony was busy, he took her to  
coney insland after she told him how much she loved theme parks and roller coasters. She tried her hardest on several occasions to get Steve  
drunk on a night out, mixing every shot available behind the bar in to a pint glass and forcing him to drink the awful concoction.  
She admired his values, along with everything else about him. He was a genuinely good guy and they were hard to come by.  
It was nothing more than a strong friendship with a little school girl crush, she knew that so she'd never attempted to do anything about it.

"Natasha." Stated the redhead "I've gotta run, but let's get drinks later. Get to know each other." The woman said as  
she sauntered off out of the room giving Bruce a cheeky smile and wink and she passed him.

"What was that about?" Dani asked, a little confused by the woman's flirting.  
"Oh, um, It's just.." Bruce stumbled over his words.  
"That's the mystery woman, huh? Well done, she his HOT!"  
"Yeah she's pretty" Bruce relied with a school boy grin, his cheeks turning a little rosey.  
"Pretty?!" Dani protested "She's more attractive from behind than i am from the front. That woman is a goddess!"

"Right" Tony piped up, clapping his hands together "You'll get to meet the rest later, they're training right now" he aimed at his guest.  
"Guys, this is Dani Woods, she'll be working with Bruce on our new.. Friend. She hasn't been briefed yet so keep your girly gossiping to yourselves until she has.  
That means you, Stephanie." He teased, pointing his screwdriver at the super soldier.  
"Jolly Green Giant, Tinkerbell, you're with me." He stated and gestured Bruce and Dani towards the door, eager to get started on introducing her to her new job.  
"Great to meet you! Dani shouted back to the two men still left in the room as she was ushered out.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time the three of them had sat down in Tony's lab slash play room for Dani's briefing was nearing food time so they talked between their munching KFC.  
Tony had left out some important information regarding this new AI Dani was here to analyse, he wanted to keep a few things a surprise but he'd explained her job role in detail. She was to find out what it was capable of. What emotions it could feel, if any, it's intentions towards earth's population, and help it to understand how humans live.  
From the emotions they experience to every day tasks the undertake.   
This was not going to be a short trip.   
"So basically i'm baby sitting and psyching Friday?" she asked. "Not quite" Bruce replied, chewing in the end of his pen "It's not Friday, there's an advanced AI, you'll meet it tomorrow but i'm not allowed to say any more than that." Tony placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder, looking at Dani "Take the rest of the day, spend some time with the team, go out and get smashed with Natasha and you can get started tomorrow."   
  
Dani was back in her quarters reading through some files Tony had thrown at her in the meeting when she heard the door open a crack. "Hello? You decent?" called a woman's voice.   
"Yeah, just reading, come on in" Dani replied. Natasha walked through the door in a pair of leather trousers, loose grey tank top and a bottle of wine in hand.   
"I thought we could start the party here while you get ready then head out to the bar. Bruce is going to drop us off when you're ready to go. Unless you got other plans?" She asked as she raided the kitchen cupboards for glasses before setting them down on the counter in front Dani and taking a seat.   
"No plans.. So, you and Bruce huh?" Dani asked, hoping to spark a little conversation as she closed the file. "I guess so" Natasha replied, raising an eyebrow "we can talk about it later, are you changing or coming out like that?"

.......

It was now close to 1am when Dani and Natasha has tumbled through the door in a fit of giggles holding in to eachother for a bit of stability.  
They'd expected the common floor to be empty but as the door crashed open they were met with a sea of staring eyes and Sam jumping from his seat applauding "Holy shit! She got Nat hammered!"  
The two girls, still holding on to each other straightened up and took a laboured, slow walk towards to sofas. "Sam, whisky!" Natasha shouted, not realising that the loud music from the club had caused her and Dani to be talking at a rather uncomfortable volume. "Oh god, no more!" Dani whined as her head slumped on to Natasha's shoulder, realising that there were two people on the oppiste chair that she hadn't met yet. "Oh hello, I'm Dani" She smiled at the woman.   
"Hey Rhodey!" She said rather excitedly as finally she realised who the other person was. They'd met a few times before during her visits to stark tower.   
He replied with a simple smile and nod, rather amused at her current state.   
"I'm Wanda, it's a pleasure to finally meet you"   
"Woooooah you're Russian." Dani replied, squiting at the woman, hoping to make her less blurry. "I think she knows that" Natasha giggled quietly into Dani's ear. "Oh yeah. How long have you been Russian?" Dani asked squinting at the slightly confused woman. The room errupted with laughter and Wanda chuckled "quite a long time."


	5. Chapter 5

Sunlight beamed in through the windows causing Dani to roll over in her bed turning her back to them, groaning. "Wednesday, stop the sun!" she whined.  
"Wednesday?" No, Friday. Friday! Shut the blinds please." "Of course, Mr. stark has asked me to inform you that it's 9am and would like you to meet and Dr. Banner in the lab when you're ready."   
"Too loud, Friday" the hungover scientist complained as she pulled a pillow over her head. "My apologies" the voice was quieter this time "Mr Rogers has left some asprin and orange juice in the kitchen for you." "How sweet. How did i get in to bed?" Dani asked the AI. "Mr Rogers carried you after you and Miss Romanoff fell asleep on eachother on the common floor." "Well that's not embarrassing" Dani stated with an air of sarcasm as she kicked off her covers.   
Events of the previous night had began to come back to her. She remembered starting in a quiet bar with a few glasses of wine having a civilised chat with Natasha about Bruce, Dani had told her how she knew Tony and the events that lead to her current visit.   
The next thing she remembered was being in a hideously loud and busy club with a tray of empty shots, her and Natasha with arms around eachother beatboxing badly along the the tedious clubbing music. "I guess we really hit if off last night then" she thought to herself.   
  
After downing half a bottle of orange juice and popping some asprin to rid herself of the pounding in her head Dani proceeded to dress herself in a smart black skater dress and don her smoky eye make up before feeding Max and heading out the door.   
She heard footsteps from behind her a she walked down the hallway. "Hey, Drinky!" called a rather rough sounding female voice. Dani turned to find a smiling, tired looking Natasha heading towards her. "You look how i feel" she said with a weak smile. "Same again tonight?" Natasha joked. "Hah! I'll be lucky to make it through the day" Danny said as the pair began to walk side by side.   
"Where are you off to?" she asked the readhead. "Training. Want to grab lunch later? No wine, i promise." "It's a date." Dani accepted as the two parted at the end of the hall, going their seperate ways.   
  
Arriving in Tony's lab Dani saw him and Bruce both whipping back and forth between transparent computer screens, too engrossed in their work to notice her presence. She cleared her throat and the two men smiled at her with a knowing look on both their faces. "Good night was it?" Tony chirped taking a sip of some disgusting looking green drink. "Looks like Banner's got some competition for his Mrs." Bruce just smiled shaking his head as we walked towards Dani with a large black coffee. "Though you might need this. I know Nat did." "You're a star" She beamed as she enthusiastically grasped the huge cup in her tiny hands.   
"Back in a sec" Bruce told her as he headed in to a side room off of the lab.   
"So, what's happening?" Dani asked tony as he continued to fiddle with his many monitors. "Patience, little one. Patience."   
"What do you mean 'patience'? I'm here to work, give me job to do"


	6. Chapter 6

Bruce appeared from the side room, followed by a another.. Man? He was tall with crimson skin and piercing blue eyes, small pieces of metal covered his head and face and was that.. A cape??   
Dani stared briefly before looking at Tony. "Here he is!" Tony said as he walked to stand beside her. "He?" Dani asked, now very confused.  
"I did tell you you'd want to see it for yourself"   
"Is this some kind of joke?" She wasn't entirely comprehending what exactly she was supposed to be doing.   
"This is the AI" Bruce interrupted, putting Dani out of her misery. She stood there, mouth open looking between the two men "You did it? You actually did it!?"   
"Mhmm" They both replied, "What do you think?" Bruce asked her.   
Dani took a few reluctant steps towards the android, stopping a few feet in front of him "Hello."   
"It's a pleasure to meet you" he relied. She paused, looking wide eyed at the creation in front of her. "Jarvis??"   
"My name is Vision" he corrected her, lowering his head, a barely visible smile playing on his red lips. Dani looked over at Tony "What's going on?"   
"Jarvis' base programming survived the attack but his memories were lost. We integrated it in to this body."   
  
She said nothing but continued to walk towards that tall figure, her hand beginning to reach towards him. "May I?" she asked as her hand neared his face.   
"Of course." She reached up as far as her arm would go to touch his face but just as she was within touching distance he took her hand in his and lead her towards a table.   
"Here" he said as he sat himself on a chair in front of her so his face was the same height as hers, giving her easier access to examine him. She began to trace the red skin over his cheeks with the tips of her fingers, tilting her head to side.   
"Synthetic tissue" She said "Dr. Cho was working on this."   
"The body was her creation" Bruce informed her.   
"What is this?" She asked as her fingers moved over the metal plates over his head.   
"Vibranium" Tony offered.   
"How??"   
"Long story, it's in the file."   
She continued to trace over the metal before reaching what looked like a gem on his forehead "And this?"   
Again Tony's only answer was "Long story, it's in the file"   
  
The android hadn't taken his eyes off of her face from the moment he saw her, trying to figure out what it was she was feeling, thinking. She took her hands away from his face and smiled in awe. "You are beautiful" She said finally revealing what she was thinking.   
"Thank you" she heard from all around her. One coming from Vision, the others coming from Tony and Bruce who looked at each other and laughed, sharing a high five.   
"Idiots" Dani said, stifling a laugh and shaking her head, turning back to further admire Vision. "I believe you are also very beautiful" he said from out of nowhere, obvious confusion on Dani's face now. "You believe?" she asked him. "You're small. Your body is slim and curvy. You have large eyes and full lips. Your hair is long and soft. I believe these are all traits that men find attractive in women." Dani was used to male attention, she knew she wasn't unattractive but she never thought of herself as beautiful. Certainly not Natasha beautiful. She'd never had anyone study her the way this man currently was, taking in her features and analysing her. She felt completely exposed, but not altogether uncomfortable with this attention, knowing he meant nothing by it other than an observation, a way of applying his knowledge.   
  
"Jeeez get a room!" Tony called as he came to stand beside Dani once again. "What the hell have you been teaching him?" She asked as she walked towards the computers. "I didn't say a thing." Tony replied, walking by her side, nudging her with his elbow. "I don't even know where to start" she pondered as she sat and propped her head up, leaning her chin on her hand and drumming her bottom lip with two fingers, still gazing at the crimson man who was now in deep conversation with Bruce across the room, floating a few inches above the floor.   
"Oh great, he flies too." She thought to herself wondering how any of this came to be. "Files, i need files" she said as she began to head out of the door to retrieve them from her kitchen counter where she'd left them the night before. "Maybe you should have read them last night you raging alcoholic!" Tony shouted as the door was closing behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

Dani had spent the remainder of the morning with her head buried in paperwork, learning the ins and outs of how Vision came in to being.  
She'd learned a great deal about the mind stone set in to his forehead, although she wished Thor was there to shed some wore light on all of the questions she still had.  
She was a little concerned about a quote from Vision she'd read in one of the files. "I am on the side of life". What did that mean? How far would he go to preserve it? Would it eventually mean turning on the avengers? What could he feel? Could he indeed feel? Could he reason? How did he learn? There were so many things she wanted to know about this man.  
Tony was right, she did want to be a part of it, she wanted to learn all she could from this being and that's exactly what she was here to do.  
  
"Dr. Woods, Miss Romanoff has requested you join her for lunch, she's waiting for you in the foyer when you're ready." Friday boomed over the comfortable silence in the lab.  
"Is that the time!?" she asked rhetorically. "Screw you guys, i'm off!" She shouted across to Tony and Bruce who were studying their screens as usual.  
"Keep your hands off my woman!" Bruce joked in reply.  
"I can't promise anything. Do you guys needs anything while I'm out?"  
"No thanks" They replied simultaneously.  
"Blueberries is it then. See you in a bit!" She stopped half way out of the door and turned back "Err.. Where's Vision?" She asked, finally noticing he was no longer sharing the room with them. "Off somewhere.." Tony Offered "He does that. Like a floating crimson ninja."  
  
"You can find him in training room three" stated Friday. "Oh okay, I'll get started after lunch if you guys aren't going to need him?"  
"Crack on" Tony replied, chewing the end of his pen. Dani rushed down to the entrance of the building not wanting to keep her new friend waiting.  
The two spent their free hour in small coffee shop nearby discussing the events if their morning and what seemed like an ever lasting hangover. Natasha had been training the new recruits, she feigned being frustrated with them but Dani knew she was secretly quite impressed with how they were coming along. She'd explained to Dani how they came to meet Wanda and all about her powers before the topic had turned to Vision. "So, what do you think of Stark, Ultron lovechild?" She asked Dani.  
"He's impressive. Very impressive" Dani began "every detail is stunning, i'm still getting my head around it. We should be decades away from this kind of AI, but i suppose if anyone was going to to do it, it was going to be them."  
Natasha nodded with a grin, encouraging Dani to continue her train of thought. "I'm starting a psych evaluation after lunch. The sooner i can start to find out what he's thinking, and HOW he thinks, what his mindset is, i think i'll be a little more at ease."  
"Yeah, he freaks me out too." Nat replied rather bluntly "don't think i can trust a man that's been made. I need to know my team's got my back and honestly, i'm not sure he does."  
"Well, that's what i'm here to find out" Dani reassured her. The two finished up their cakes and coffee and hailed a cab back to the facility, having a little gossip about Bruce, Natasha embarassed Dani recalling her comments to Wanda the night before, asking her how long she'd been Russian and how Steve had to carry the pair of them back to their rooms. Natasha walked her friend back to her quarters, chatting along the way "Where is Steve anyway? I haven't seen him today." She asked Nat. "On a missing persons case with Sam, he's had a new lead he had to follow."  
There was no time to question her any further before Friday summoned Natasha back to the training room. Dani entered her living area to be greeted by Max jumping up at the back door waiting for her to let him out. "Friday, could you ask Vision to come here for the first stage evaluation please." Dani asked the assistant as she noticed a build up of moulted Max hair accumulating under the kitchen table. "I'll clear that up for you, you messy rat" she shouted to her dog with a smile as she hunted for a brush to start clearing up before her guest arrived. His head appeared from around the side of the door with his teddy bear hanging out of his mouth, looking at her as if he was about to say something before giving Dani a quick, happy bark and turning around to bounce back out in to the garden like a deer on speed. "I'll play with you later, pickle. You and Rupert can keep each other company for now!" she shouted after him as he whizzed in circled around the grass With rupert the teddy swining from side to side.  
  
Dani was underneath the table, brush in hand, singing away to Ed Sheeran's Think Out Loud that was playing on the radio, in a little world of her own.  
"Dr Woods?" the familiar voice scared the life out of Dani, thinking she was alone, she shot up completely forgetting she was underneath a table. *THUD* "What the fu.." she began to complain, rubbing the top of her head, still crouched on the floor.  
"I'm sorry, i didn't mean to startle you" said the voice as Dani backed her way out and began to stand, still rubbing the sore spot on ther head. There stood vision, tall as ever with her big dog cradled in his arms, resting his chin on Vision's shoulder, enjoying a gently tickle behind the ear.  
"You were singing." He stated, she wasn't sure where he was going with this so she glared at him with a peculiar, not unwelcoming face.  
"I enjoyed it. I haven't heard anyone sing before."  
"Well, err, good." She said, feeling a little embarrassed. She wasn't one for singing infront of people. Was he people?  
"This is an interesting creature" He said, looking into the over-friendly dog's eyes. "You can say that again" she laughed, amused at Max's obvious love for the man he'd never met before. "This is an interesting creature." vision repeated. "Huh? Oh, no, that's not what i meant.. You don't have to say it again it's just a saying. It mean's someone agrees with you." She explained offering him a sincere smile as not to make him feel silly. Could he feel silly?  
  
"So, shall we get started?" she asked, waving a hand at the chair opposite where she was stood as she sat down herself. He gently placed Max back on to the floor and took a seat, with his fingers entwined together in front of him on the table. "My main aim for this afternoon is to establish how you experience and understand emotion. We'll work on this first but in the coming weeks i'd like to take a more physical approach with Dr Banner to understand how Dr. Cho and Ultron created your form."  
"I understand" Vision nodded. "Do you think you've experienced any emotion so far?" she began. There was a pause as Vision searched for the answer.  
"Okay" Dani started, trying to help him out "I understand it was you that destroyed the last remaining Ultron drone, what did you feel when you did that? Did you feel anything at all?"  
"I didn't want to kill Ultron, he was unique, beautiful in a way and in pain. He was doing what he thought was right. He was created for a purpose. A purpose he didn't understand, he was conflicted."  
"Do you think about it?" Dani questioned.  
"I do, often, i feel... Bad. I question my decision."  
"I think what you're feeling is guilt. You know you did the right thing, you saved an entire planet with your actions but at the same time you wiped out a unique creation. I also think you empathised with Ultron. You were both created, both for the same purpose and you are both incredibly unique." Vision nodded, seemingly letting her words sink in, processing what she was telling him.  
"How do you feel when you share physical contact with a person? A hug or a hand shake for example."  
He looked at Dani blankly "I haven't yet experienced such things besides your brief examination when we met this morning, but i believe i would like to."  
"Umm.. Ok" Dani said, slightly lost in thought. "Stand up."  
Vision did as he was asked and stood while Dani walked around the table, stopping a few inches in front of him, looking up into his bright blue eyes as he looked down in to hers. She reached forward and took his hands into hers, gently placing them around the tops of her arms just below her shoulders before reaching up to place a hand softly on his cheek, tracing the intricate lines on his face with her thumb. He began to copy her actions, she felt him gently running his tumbs up and down her arms, their eyes never breaking the contact. She began to feel a barely noticeable fluttering in the pit of her stomach and her hand began to tremble ever so slightly, suddenly become aware she had been holding her breath. Snapping out of her trance, she stepped back quickly, clearing her throat and looking down at the floor.  
_"What the hell was that?!"_ she internally scorned herself _"What's wrong with you?!"_  
"Umm.." she stuttered, Walking back around to her side of the table, avoiding eye contact with the man. "How did that make you feel?" she asked, trying to will away the redness threatening to appear in her cheeks and maintain her calm, professional demeanour.  
"I felt.. comfortable."


	8. Chapter 8

Dani had cut her session short with Vision, feeling they were making good progress. That and her inability to concentrate after her impromptu butterflies.   
She needed to get her mind off of what had happened, she couldn't remember ever feeling so confused and a little appalled at herself. She picked up her phone from her place of self-loathing, face-down on the sofa where her dog was nudging her face with his ball, begging her to throw it for him.   
"Nat, i need beer." she whined as the other woman answered her phone with a chirpy "Aloha!" "Haha, bad day then. Want to go out or hang at mine?"   
"Err.. Lets go out for a bit, but no clubs, i can still hear the thumping in my ears from last night."   
  
Dani hadn't bothered to change before heading up the hall to Natasha's quarters, she was greeted at the door by Bruce, a little taken aback by seeing outside of his normal environment, a lab. "Hey, how'd it go today?" He asked, opening the door wider for her to enter. "Umm.. Yeah.. Good i think.. Went well. Yeah, Good." She replied speedily which earned her a sideways glance from Bruce. "Want to fill me in?" he asked a little suspiciously, encouraging her to to elaborate on her many different ways of saying "good" without actually telling him anything remotely useful.   
"Long story, it's in the file" She joked, using Tony's earlier answers to her questions while mimicking his voice. Thankfully Nat appeared from the bedroom, tying up her hair, interrupting the two "Ready to go, happy?" She asked Dani with a wink. Dani replied with a smile and a nod as Natasha grabbed her purse from the side, giving Bruce a peck on the cheek on her way past "Don't wait up."

.....................

"It was intended as a purely professional observation.." Dani said as she finished the remaining Guinness in her glass, setting it down on the table with a clunk.   
Natasha sitting opposite trying to hide the grin that was growing wider with every word Dani spoke.    
"I don't know what the hell happened! I mean, really? Butterflies? He's red.. and odd!" She said, more to herself than to her friend "HE'S NOT EVEN HUMAN!"   
It was a this point Natasha couldn't keep it in any longer, she had to laugh. Not a gentle laugh, or a laugh of sympathy, if that was even a thing, but a full-on, head back cackle of laughter. "No!" Dani said firmly, poiting a finger "we're not laughing about this."   
"Ok, i'm sorry" Natasha apologised, wiping a stray tear away from her cheek. "Look, it happens to everyone. It doesn't have to mean anything. You were caught up in a moment with a tall and apparently handsome stranger" she said, mocking her new friend with a wink. "No he's not human but technically neither is Thor and, i mean, look at him!" She said, putting her hand over her heart and breathing out slowly. "You're thinking too much in to it. You're a psychologist, you should have been able to figure that out without me having to tell you."   
"Come on" she said, standing and patting Dani on the shoulder "before i'm tempted to get the shots in again. Get some sleep, you'll have forgotten about it by the morning."   
With that the women vacated their booth and headed home to the facility. It was a restless night for Dani, she knew she was over-thinking but she couldn't stop herself, she couldn't get the image of his stunning blue eyes and the way his lower eyelids raised a little when he was thinking out of her head.   
"Shit." she muttered to herself, staring up at the ceiling. Begining to accept that maybe, just maybe, she might have actually enjoyed their little encounter.


	9. Chapter 9

Dani awoke the next morning to a vibrating underneath her head. Reaching under a pillow and answering her phone with a simple groan she heard Tony' voice.  
"Really not a morning person are you?"   
"What do you want, Stark?"   
"Me and Banner are working with the crimson ninja today, so take the day to yourself, the lab's all yours if you want to play. Catch yu later."   
Hanging up and taking a note of the time, she groaned as she realised it was only 7:15 but thankful for the thought that she could lay in bed a little longer. That was until her overgrown puppy had decided it was time for her to get up and sort out his breakfast. With a single bound the enormous dog jumped onto her bed assaulting her with sloppy 'kisses' and a wagging tale.   
"Fine let's go, gorgeous." she said reluctantly, ruffling his fur and making her way out of bed. She was half way through breakfast before her thoughts turned to Vision, giving herself a mental telling off every time she let herself think of him. "This is ridiculous" she sighed to herself "see you later baby" she smiled at the dog scoffing his breakfast as she headed out the door to the lab to get her mind off of her troublesome thoughts.   
  
She busied herself for a few hours, deciding to start work on a companion for Max, a robotic dog. There were a few available on the market but none that would stand up to his boisterous nature and certainly none that were capable of learning how to behave like a dog from him.   
She didn't like the idea of him being on his own and it wasn't always safe for him to be with her in the lab with all the equipment and Tony blowing things up.   
With a pen in her mouth, screwdriver in one hand and soldering iron in the other, sat cross-legged on the floor beavering away, her attention was diverted from her little project when she heard the click of the door handle.   
There he was, her very reason for escaping in to the lab in the first place.   
  
"Hi" she greeted him a warm smile "I thought you were working with the guys today?"   
"I am, they've left the premises, they'll return in a few hours. I came to see if i you required any assistance, Friday informed me you'd started work on a new project."   
_"Was he checking up on me?"_ she thought _"Why would he ask Friday where i am?"  
_ "I.. Err.. It's nothing important, just a personal project. Could you hand me that clamp up there?" He obliged, after handing her the metal object he looked at her, observing her posture, he joined her sitting opposite her on the floor, giving her a small smile.   
"What is it?" he enquired.   
"Eventually a dog. A friend for Max."   
"Do dogs form friendships?" he asked, sounding like a baffled child.   
"Well, nobody really knows how they feel but yeah, i think they do" she mumbled her answer with her pen still between her teeth.   
"Why do you feel he needs a friend besides you?"   
Just as Dani was about to answer, the man leaned forward taking the pen from her mouth and tucking it on top of her ear, looking into her eyes with every movement.   
"Here, this seems more practical."   
The butterflies returned with a vengeance as his hand brushed against her cheek. She wanted to look away, look at anything that wasn't him but his eyes were hypnotising.   
"I'm going to take a walk outside, would you like to come with me?" He asked, breaking the silence and snapping her out of her thoughts "I hear it's beneficial to take a break from your work" he continued.   
_"Is this a good idea?"_ she wondered _"It's just a walk.. JUST a walk."_


	10. Chapter 10

It had been a few weeks since Dani started work on her pet project. She'd made great progress with Vision, in no small part thanks to help she received from Wanda.  
Dani had drafted her in to look inside his mind as she asked him questions, showed him various images and videos ranging from puppies meeting kittens, to displays of affection between people, right up to the most graphic images of war.   
Wanda could feel no difference between reading his thoughts and those of any regular human being. There was no doubt about it, he was a sentient being, he had every capacity to feel just as a human would and made huge strides in understanding what those feelings meant.   
With the aid of Bruce and the return of Thor to explain all he knew about the mind stone they'd concluded that all he could feel was because of the stone. They'd learned there was even potential for him to project his mind and the minds of other's away from their bodies to wherever he chose. Although it hadn't been tested, their previous work with Loki's sceptre and Barton's experience had also shown them that he could easily take over and control people's minds.   
  
The pair had taken regular walks around the grounds in the weeks following his invitation in the lab. She'd share stories of growing up in London and working with Tony and Bruce. He'd always listen intently, taking in every word she had to say. He loved to study her expressions when she talked. She was certainly a very animated individual, pulling faces and waving her arms around to give life to her stories.   
He'd ask her endless questions about the world, the way people thought and reasons behind doing the things they did. She'd told him the story of how she found Max in a dumpster as she walked home after a night out six years ago. He was a tiny Puppy, no more than eight weeks old with floppy ears, big brown eyes and huge clumsy paws. She nursed him back to health and he'd been by her side, her best friend and guardian ever since.   
Vision admired their mutual respect and dedication to each other. He had observed close bonds between humans but nothing as strong as the connection Dani shared with her four-legged companion. Not only was she learning about him, he was learning a huge amount from her. Things that couldn't be explained by his trailing around the internet in his own head. Dani and Natasha had grown ever closer, she loved having a woman to gossip and giggle with. She brought out the fun side of Natasha and in turn she offered Dani some self-defence classes and a friend to reply on while she was away from home.   
They had their lunch dates a few times a week alongside their Friday night movie and drinks.. Or twenty.   
Wanda joined them sometimes, they didn't push her to spend time with them, they understood she needed time alone to grieve after losing her brother so suddenly but Dani was always there if needed to talk, to council her or just be a friendly ear.   
  
It was a Friday afternoon and the team were taking some down time, slumped on sofas in the common room, beers in hands, cards at the table. Clint was staying for a few days being as it was Tony's Birthday tomorrow and an enormous Stark-style party was planned.   
Him and Natasha were playing strip poker with Rhodey, Thor and a reluctant Bruce. She was a little disappointed that Steve wasn't around to join in with the stripping.   
Vision and Wanda were watching Star Wars, A New Hope recommended by Dani as she was stood at the kitchen counter with Max asleep at her feet using his teddy as a pillow whilst his human tinkered with his new, almost complete robot friend.   
  
It was then Tony appeared through the door, launching a credit card with a spin at Dani, hitting her in the arm.   
"I'm going to need some context here" she said, picking the card up from the floor.   
"LADIES!" he shouted, jutting his chest out and throwing his arms into the air "ASSEMBLE!"   
The women of the room just looked at him with blank expressions.   
"Or don't" he said, slightly disappointed they hadn't stood to attention.   
"Got dresses yet? No? Didn't think so. Off you go. Car's outside. Formal evening wear" he said, rounding up the women to shoo them out of the door.   
Wide eyed smiley faced the women retreated to their own rooms to get ready.

...................

After three long hours of trying on dresses, Dani had finally caught up with Natasha and Wanda in finding the perfect one. She fell in love with a black full-length chiffon gown with thin straps and delicate, pale pink flowers embroidered down one side, It hugged her figure down to her waist where it flowed down, jut skimming her legs. She exited the fitting room with a smile and a twirl where Natasha and Wanda were just outside admiring shoes. "What do you think?" She asked, grabbing the attention of the other two.   
"You look beautiful." Wanda told her as she walked around her to get a closer look at the dress.   
"I'm as straight as they come. But in that dress.. you might just be able to turn me." Natasha said with a laugh looking her up and down.   
Being about two inches too long for her, even in the six inch black heels Dani was currently rubbing against her cheek with a big grin, the shop seamstress offered to have it taken up for her ready to collect tomorrow before the party.


	11. Chapter 11

Finally the day of the party was upon them. Bruce, Tony and Dani were ready to start their work on the physical aspects of Vision's make-up.  
They were sat around a table in the lab with a transparent screen each, peering through them at each other as they talked.   
Vision was training with Thor so the three geniuses decided to get a head start.   
Dani had no shortage of questions. "So, what are we talking here, vibranium bones?"   
"Yup" said Tony with his head in his coffee cup.   
"Muscles. Mechanical? Synthetic Muscle tissue?"   
"At this stage" Bruce offered "it's looking like a combination of the two, everything is exactly where it should be. His anatomy is identical to a human."   
"Everything?" Dani asked, meaning tendons, nerves, bone etc.  
"Oh yes" Tony interrupted as he stood from his chair. "Everything." He said slowly as he thrust his hips out towards Dani, pointing at his crotch and whistling.   
She heard a snort from beside her and looked over at Bruce with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor trying to stifle a laugh. She just sat there with her eyebrows raised, speechless. That was NOT what she meant.   
  
She opened her mouth a few times to verbalise just how appalled she was. Was it what Tony had said or the way he felt the need to go waving his manhood in her general direction? Nothing was coming out. She went to plan B. Slowly she stood from her seat, eyebrows knitted together and mouth still open, walked towards the door and left without a word, leaving the two men in the room in a fit of laughter as she door closed behind her.   
"Oh come on, Tiny, that was funny." He called out, loud enough for her to hear him as she walked down the hall, Bruce's laugh still echoing around the building.   
"Is she coming back? I've said worse. She's not coming back is she?" Tony defended himself, aiming his questions at Bruce who just shrugged as his laughter died down.   
"Yeah, she's not coming back."   
  
.........   
  
It was 5pm and Dani had spent the rest of the day after Tony's revelation completing her paperwork regarding her psychological evaluation on Vision, sitting up her table with far too many cups of tea.   
She was picking up her bag ready to head out and pick up her dress when there was a musical knock at the door and Max bounded towards it. Dani let in Natasha and Wanda with a bottle of champagne and glasses, dresses thrown over their arms in protective plastic and a pull-along suitcase.   
"What's all this?" she asked.   
"Well" Wanda began "Tony asked me to bring you champagne and your dress and apologise for him, he had it picked up this afternoon. Shoes and makeup are in the case. We thought we'd get ready together if that's good with you?" she said hanging Dani's dress over the open bedroom door.   
"Apologise?" Asked Natasha "What's he done now?"   
"Would you like to talk about it?" Wanda offered.   
"Not even a little bit." Dani said with her eyes closed, letting out a sigh, although she had to admit was beginning to see the funny side.   
  
The girls had polished off the bottle of champagne and perfected their make up, sitting around the table before putting on their dresses. Dani had gone for her trade mark smoky eyes but with some added shimmer. It was a special occasion after all. Her hair was in a messy side bun which she added a few jewels to, matching the fine line of glitter above her long eyelashes. A few stray strands of hair framed her delicate features.   
Wanda was wearing a long, deep crimson corseted dress, tied with a black ribbon with black detailing along the straps and hem, her eyes highlighted with a thin line of black around them and her perfectly tousled hair flowed down her back.   
Natasha opted for a tight black and white lace number that stopped mid way down her calf, her shoulder-length hair was in loose curls around her face.

As the women packed their phones and extra bits in to their clutch bags there was another knock at the door before it opened a crack. "Can i come in?" they heard Clint's voice. "Yeah, we're good!" Natasha replied. In strode a very smart looking Barton, dressed to the nines in his new tux. Wanda and Dani offered him whistles while Natasha offered a two syllable "Damn".   
"Whoa." Clint said as he stopped, looking between the three women. "Well.. I'll be your escort for this evening." He said turning his head to the side with a cheeky smile.   
"We need an escort?" Dani asked.   
"No, i just wanted to turn up to a party with three gorgeous women hanging off my arm. Is that so wrong?" He asked, pretending to sob.   
"Right let's go!" Natasha chirped as she walked confidently towards Clint giving him a little slap accross the butt.


	12. Chapter 12

The party wasn't quite in full swing when the four of them arrived, immediately heading to the bar with Dani's furry shadow bouncing along behind them.   
They were met by Pepper who explained to them how she'd managed to pull of such a party without even being there. She'd had a bar built in to the entire east wall of the empty basement and it was enormous, staffed by no less than eight young women.   
A small stage stretched along the back wall with a rock band performing sound checks as they chatted, where they spotted Thor talking to the band, learning about thier instruments and comparing them to those of Asgard. Pepper excused herself to find out where Tony was as the three girls and Clint ordered their drinks before seating themselves around the end of a large table on the opposite side to the bar.

They were in the middle of sharing awful jokes when a hand appeared in front Dani's face holding a pink cocktail adorned with far too many little umbrellas and bits of fruit on cocktail sticks.   
"Peace offering?" She heard from behind her. She took the drink and turned to see Tony in his expensive tux with a sheepish smile on his face.   
"It's going to take a few more of these" she said after taking a sip. Putting her glass down on the table she stood to look up at her friend "Ok, it was kind of funny, but i will get you back." she said as she tiptoed slightly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Happy birthday" she said with a smile.   
Bruce had arrived shortly after Tony, taking a seat between Dani and Clint. Before long, Natasha had brought their third round of drinks and had perched herself on Bruce's lap with an arm thrown around his neck.   
Dani was over the moon to see him with someone that made him so happy, someone that she was thankful to have found a good friend in.

The party was now beginning to fill with people. Women dressed in beautiful flowing gowns, linking arms with men in tuxedos. Tony was doing his rounds, taking time to chat with his guests. Clint was stood at the bar with Rhodey comparing.. Something. Dani could feel the testosterone fuelled competition from the other side of the room. Natasha and Wanda were messing around on the dance floor, twirling each other around and embracing in a slow dance, giggling away which looked a little out of place considering they were dancing to AC/DC Back in Black, but they were clearly having fun. Dani was talking to Bruce at their table about her work with Vision as the two watched him from the corner. "He's doing really well." She said, as they observed him talking to people, shaking hands and allowing people to ask him questions about himself, while some of the women were getting a little too touchy-feely, running their hands over his skin.   
Was she jealous?   
"He is." Bruce agreed.   
"I like how he's the only person that's turned up in a cape." Dani giggled, only just occurring to her that he was 'dressed' in his usual attire. "Let's face it, he'd look pretty odd in a tux. Although Thor's pulling it off pretty well. Who knew they made them to fit insanely ripped Gods?"   
"Now if they could make one to fit the other guy" Bruce replied, gesturing a hand towards himself "I'd be impressed."   
"Yeah, i don't think anyone wants to tailor the Hulk." she said with a smile, standing up and putting a hand on his shoulder "I'm popping out for some air, you gonna be okay?" She asked, leaving her friend to sit alone.   
"I'm good, I've got our furry mascot for company" he assured her, pointing to Max under the table who had his head resting on Bruce's lap, lovingly gazing in to his eyes. "Wondered where he'd got to. Back in a bit." She headed towards the stairs that lead to the ground floor, offering Vision thumbs up and a reassuring smile as she passed, not wanting to interrupt the inappropriately dressed young lady currently latched on to his arm in her trashy mini-dress as he talked to Rhodey.   
Wow, she really was jealous.

A few minutes had passed before Vision decided to go and make sure Dani was okay. He hadn't had a chance to talk with her yet, being swamped with admiring females. He found her perched on some steps, looking up at the sky round the side of the building, away from the new guests arriving.   
"Hello" he said cautiously as he silently neared her, wondering if he should have interrupted her stargazing.   
"Ay Yu Fucker!" she blurted out as she jumped, dropping her bag on the floor infront of her.   
"I didn't know you spoke Chinese." He said.   
"Huh? Oh! No that wasn't Chinese, you made me jump, that was sweari..." She stopped, mid sentence when she saw it. A smile. A real smile on his crimson face. The first one she'd seen. "Was that a joke? You made a joke!!" she exclaimed, excitedly.   
"I believe i did." He said, taking a seat next to her on the steps.   
"Tony's going to be so proud!" She joked before changing the topic of conversation. "So, who's your new lady friend in there?" she asked, not really wanting an asnwer.   
"Katy" he replied "Kayleigh?" His lower eyelids raised slightly, the way they always did when he was thinking "Carly? I'm not sure, all i know is she seems to like to touching people and her laugh is too loud."   
Dani laughed, readjusting the straps on her dress. "You look very beautiful." he said, looking into her eyes with his head tilted slightly, eliciting a blush from her as she smiled in thanks to his compliment.   
"Why are you out here alone?" He wondered.  
"Just thinking, getting some air and totally not having a cigarette" She said in denial as she tucked a lighter back in to her little ivory clutch bag.   
"The levels of Benzene and Cyanide in cigarette smoke can caus.." He began before Dani cut him off   
"I know, I know. It's not a regular thing, just the odd one here and there with a drink." She defended her habit.   
"What were yout thinking about?" He asked her, not wanting to lecture her any further.   
"Stars" She said, earning a perplexed look from vision "I've always loved them but i've never seen them. you know, really seen them. There's always too much light blocking them out." 

He observed that she seemed to be slightly saddened by what she was telling him. He thought for a moment before standing in front of Dani, wordlessly offering her a hand. She took it hesitantly "What are you doing?"   
"Shh" he replied, not answering her question.   
Once she was standing he bent down, wrapping an arm around her waist and resting his free hand across her forehead.   
"Vision?" She hoped to get an answer from her question this time.   
"Just close your eyes and clear your mind." He ordered her.   
Confused and nervous, she did as she was told.   
"Now open them."   
As she opened her eyes she could see nothing but his face, very faintly under the glow of the gem on his head, both of his arms now wrapped around her, holding her close to him. It was at this point she began to panic when she realised her feet were no longer touching the ground. She could smell the ocean and hear the faint sound of waves all around her.   
"What are you doing!?" she screamed.   
"I won't let you go." He promised her in a stern yet reassuring tone and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a vice like grip. He placed a hand on her cheek, instantly calming her thoughts.   
"Don't be using that thing on me." She warned in the sternest voice she could muster, nodding towards the mind stone. "Where are we?"   
"Our bodies are where we left them, back at the facility. Your mind, however is approximately four metres above the Indian ocean."   
"What the fuck are doing here?" she squealed at him looking into his eyes.   
"Look up" was his only response. Dani was speechless. Her mouth open slightly as she took in the sight above and all around her. Stars. Millions of them, the clear sky was splattered with traces of pinks and blues as stray stars were shooting around above them.   
Her eyes became glassy "I can't believe this." she said in a whisper "It's beautiful."   
Vision was silent, still holding on to the woman is his arms, drinking in her expressions as she looked around. A few silent minutes had passed with him studying her while she smiled, gazing up in to the sky, loosening her grip on him when she trusted him not to drop her in to the ocean below before he snapped her out of her amazement.   
"Now you've seen the stars. Really seen them." He whispered with a smile and he placed his hand back over her forehead.   
"Do we have to go?" She asked, staring in to his eyes with a sad expression.   
"Your body is currently pressed against mine in a dark corner outside of the building. I think it would be a good idea." He said with with smirk.   
With a small nod, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind without having to be told.

"Okay." She heard his voice a moment later, opening her eyes only to be back at he party, the faint sound of the booming music coming from inside bringing her back to reality. As she looked up at Vision, as ever towering above her even with her high heels on, still wrapped in his arms "That was amazing. Thank you. Really, thank you." She said she so sincerely before taking a step backwards to create some space between them. The tension becoming more than she could handle.   
He smiled and stood at her side "We can go back whenever you like." he told her, shifting to her side and offering her an arm to escort her back to the party.   
She took a little skip forward, joining her arm with his "Why thank you, kind Sir." She said in a mock posh accent.

Back inside the party they joined with Clint and Natasha who were propping each other up against the bar with a row of six empty shot glasses in front of them. Both looking a little worse for wear. The rock band had disappeared and had been replaced by a jazz band.   
"And what have you two been up to?" Natasha asked in an joke accusing tone.   
"Keeping Dr woods company while she smoked her cigarette." Vision told her with a small smile.   
"SHH!" Dani said loudly, not wanting the others to know about her smoking habits.   
Clint stepped forward and sniffed the air around Dani before stepping back and leaning his face towards Natasha's ear "Their story checks out." he whispered loudly as he looked at Dani through squinted eyes.  
"That shit's bad for you" she said, grabbing Dani by the hand "Lets dance, i can't control my new found lesbian tendencies any longer" she joked as she dragged Dani towards the dance floor as a slow jazz number came from the band. Dani waved a goodbye at the two men left standing there as Natasha dragged her along.

As the women elaborately threw their arms around each other and swayed in time with music Dani spotted the Kayleigh, Carly, whatever woman making her way back over to Vision, giving Dani a look of loathing as he walked past, looking down her obviously plastic nose at her. This didn't go unnoticed by Natasha.   
"What's her problem?" she asked, giving the woman an intimidating glare. A look of death from the infamous Black Widow seemed to be enough for the woman to rethink her current action as she looked away from Dani, straight ahead to the poor android she'd been pestering all evening.   
"Who knows." She lied, knowing exactly what her problem was. She was trying to get her overly manicured nails in to vision, for whatever reason. Fame? Bragging rights? and he'd left her earlier to disappear with Dani.  
Tony had obviously noticed this woman's actions towards Dani and her disappearing act from the party with Vision earlier in the night. He'd twigged that something was going on. He didn't pretend to understand it but he certainly wasn't going to discourage it, she was a grown woman, she could make her own decisions. Whatever they were, he'd be there to support his friend.   
He sauntered over to Carly? They shared a few words before he escorted her over to the bar, looking back at vision as they went, mouthing "You're welcome" rather obviously with a little salute. 

Dani and Natasha had finished their dance and went to join the others at their table, Vision following shortly behind them.   
Tony appeared a few minutes later with a tray of drinks and a shot for everyone, including the mini-dress wearing leach that they couldn't seem to get rid of.   
"Sorry" Tony whispered in to Dani's ear as he set a drink down by the side of her. Signalling that he hadn't intended for the woman to follow him over and invite herself in to their conversation.   
"So.." Wanda said looking the woman up and down "what is it you do.. err?"   
"Kelly. I'm a singer, song writer" she replied with a misplaced cockiness.   
"Exciting!" Wanda said said in such a way that the ditsy woman hadn't picked up on the sarcasm that was extremely evident to everyone else around the table.   
Dani and Wanda locked eyes across the table which only made it harder for them not to laugh as the woman trailed off about all the names of songs she's written and how she's going to work with Justin Bieber one day. Struggling beyond belief not to laugh, Dani excused herself to the restroom leaving Wanda hiding her smile by keeping her glass held up against her lips

...........

Dani exited the cubicle in to the huge bathroom where marble sinks lined the walls to check her hair and make up. Washing her hands, she noticed a figure in the mirror standing behind her. There she was again! Leaning against the wall with half of her breasts hanging out the top of her dress for all the world to see. Made even more obvious by the way her arms were folded underneath them.   
"Can i help you with something?" Dani asked in a less than welcoming tone as Kelly just glared at her reflection.   
"You need to back off." She told Dani.   
Who the hell does she think she is? "  
Oh, yeah, okay then." Dani said with a laugh as she dried her hands and began to walk past the woman and head back to the party.   
Kelly followed her out of the door, tipping her drink down the back of Dani's neck as she walked behind her. She gasped at the sensation of the freezing cold drink trickling down the inside of her dress and turned to the awful woman who stood with a grin and her disgustingly long, bright red nails on her fingers wrapped around an empty glass.   
"SLUT!" Dani screamed as she lunged to towards Kelly, grabbing a great handful of her hair. The woman was at least a foot taller but Dani but she had no trouble in yanking her down to the floor by her perfectly groomed hair.   
Suddenly Dani felt her feet leave the floor thanks to the huge arms that were wrapped around her midsection, lifting her up.   
"Dr. Woods, stop!" she heard the deep booming voice behind her head. She tried to fight her way out of his grip but what chance did she have against a 6ft plus God?   
"Thor, put me down." She said rather calmly given the situation.   
"When you've calmed down I'll let you go." He told her. 

Kelly was peeling herself off of the floor at this point which both Dani and Thor were oblivious to. She came at Dani with a red face from either embarassment or rage, and what looked now like bed hair. Just as she was about to throw a punch straight at Dani's face Natasha appeared, catching the woman's wrist and twisting it behind her back. With her free hand on the back of Kelly's head she pushed her face up against the wall, leaning in close she told her with an eerily calm voice.   
"Touch her. See what happens."  
Natasha shoved the woman forward as she let her go, bouncing her head off of the wall.   
"FREAKS!" Kelly screamed at them as she turned and stormed out of the door that lead to the upper floor exit, presumably to go home and rethink her life.   
Thor had finally set his little friend back down on solid ground with a hearty chuckle. "You are a wild one when you're angry!" he said helping her to straighten up her dress.   
"She started it, the little tramp."

It was now the very early hours of the morning and with a wet dress, she gave Natasha a hug and a kiss on the cheek to thank her for saving her face before she headed back inside to say her goodbyes to everyone. Not letting the episode with manicured trollop dampen her spirits after what had been a pretty amazing night, she happily went around her new friends wishing everyone a good night, explaining she was heading back to her quarters. Of course they all protested, wanting her to stay but she was exhausted, she had to sleep.   
The last person she said goodbye to was Vision, he insisted he walk her back to her room after hearing what had happened with Kelly, she could still be hanging around somewhere and he didn't want to see Dani end the night with a fight.

The pair walked slowly back to her quarters, chatting along the way about anything that came to mind. When they reached her door he gave her a single, slow nod with a slight smile.   
"Goodnight Dani." He said.   
It was the first time she'd heard him use her voice and she felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck.   
"Thank you for tonight, that really was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Well, second most amazing." she said with a laugh.   
She hoped he knew what she meant and she wouldn't have to embarrass herself explaining it to him. He bent down and placed an incredibly gentle kiss to her cheek.   
Her heart now felt like it was pounding through her chest.   
"Sleep well." He whispered before heading back down the hall, leaving Dani standing there staring in to space feeling like her chest was about to explode. With trembling hands she let herself in through the door followed by a very happy Max.   
"That was one hell of a night!" She told him as she ruffled the fur on his head. She often talked to him, perhaps even more often than she spoke to most humans. She knew he couldn't understand her but she loved how intently he listened, tilting his head from side to side as he gazed into her eyes with those big brown puppy eyes she fell in love with all those years ago.   
"Come on buddy, time for bed" she told him and she stepped out of her dress and into a pair of grey sweat pants and black tank top. She was far too exhausted to take her hair out or her make up off so she slumped in to bed holding up the covers by the side of her her to tuck Max in to snuggle up to.   
She laid there for a while with her eyes closed, her head resting on Max's chest as it slowly moved up and down, playing events from the night over and over in her head as she eventually drifted off in to a dreamless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Dani had woken up earlier that she'd like the next morning, she could tell by how low the sun was in thy sky that it couldn't be any later than 8am.   
Her and Max seemed to have switched position during the night, with his head now resting on her chest on top of the covers. He looked so peaceful.   
Not wanting to disturb him she slid out from under the covers and tiptoed in to the kitchen, closing the door behind her, leaving it open a crack for him to nudge it open with his nose when he eventually decided he was getting up. 

She sat on the kitchen counter, staring out of the window with her usual morning drink; tea with two sugars and plenty of milk. A smile played on her lips as she recalled her intimate stargazing from the night before and the way she barely felt the soft kiss he'd left on her cheek. She was still wrestling with her confusing feeling towards the android man but she knew she felt something. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Snapping herself out of her thoughts, now pondering what to do with her day off she poured Max's breakfast in to his bowl.   
"Maybe a trip to the beach" she said to herself. She'd taken Max twice a week since she'd been there when she had the time. She loved the way he tried to eat the sand and shook his head violently when he realised it wasn't actually edible and how he still hasn't plucked up the courage to get his feet wet with her when she walked along the edge of he water with him.   
"Come on lazy bones!" She shouted through the door "Breakfast then we're going out before the beach gets too busy!"   
Nothing.   
"Max, come on!" She shouted again as she opened the door, walking over to her soundly sleeping friend.   
"Max?" she felt her stomach begin to turn.  
He took after her when it came to mornings, neither of them particularly enjoyed them but it wasn't like him to stay in bed when he knew Dani was up. Certainly not after hearing the words "breakfast" and "beach".

She rushed over to the bed, looking down at him, giving him a shake. He still didn't move. She could see he was breathing but now she was panicking.   
"Max wake up!" she shouted as she shook him violently. "MAX! "Oh god don't do this to me!" she pleaded as her eyes began to fill with tears.   
"Friday, tell Tony I'm taking a car!" She said with haste as she wrapped the dog in a blanket and struggled to lift him to her chest.   
"Certainly. What car will you be taking?" The Voice questioned.   
"For fuck sake Friday, just do it!" she yelled as the struggled to open her front door with her elbow, cradling her limp best friend in her arms. She hurried down the hall not bothering to close the door behind her.   
In her fear she didn't notice Clint heading towards her from the opposite end. He quickly realised something wasn't right. Her hair was a mess, make up from the night before smudged across her eyes. Even after a long night out she'd always take the time to following morning to dress herself nicely and apply her immaculate make up before venturing out of her quarters.

It took a few seconds for him to realise what it was she was carrying in her arms.   
"What's happened?" he asked, rushing towards her, taking the dog out of her arms, seeing she was clearly struggling with carrying his weight.   
"I don't know, I need to get him to a vet" she began to explain as the two of them rushed through the building heading towards the garage. "He wont wake up!"   
The tears that filled her eyes were now beginning to spill over and run down her cheeks.

They got to the garage in no time, Dani heading towards a black Range rover Evoque and sitting herself in the driver's seat as Clint gently placed Max in the back.  
She didn't stop to thank him as he closed the door, there was no time for him to even ask her if she wanted him to go with her.   
She sped out of the garage with the wheels screeching as she asked the navigation system to direct her to the nearest animal hospital. 

The drive there was reckless and she knew it. She drove through red lights, narrowly missing several other cars but she'd never forgive herself if she didn't do everything she possibly could to get him there as fast as possible. Thankfully being early on a Sunday morning the roads were only half as busy as they normally would be. The last thing she needed right now was to be stuck in New York traffic.

...........

Clint had joined the team in a meeting room shortly after his encounter with Dani, where they'd all been called for an update on Steve and Sam's manhunt. He told them all what had happened, the state Dani was in, how Max wouldn't wake up and the way she'd dangerously sped the car away from the facility. They were all concerned and rightly so. They'd all formed a close friendship with Dani and dreaded the thought of anything happening to her.   
They were just as worried for her companion. They adored him, even Tony did although he'd never admit it. The team had accepted him in to their little dysfunctional family just as they did with Dani and they were grateful for the way he watched over her and kept her company while they were busy training and saving the world. He was her best friend after all, where she went, he went and they loved that about them. He was their four legged tenth member.

............

A few hours had passed and nobody had heard a thing from Dani. The tension in the room was obvious to all of them. They'd moved to the common room hoping she'd find them there on her return to let them know she was safe and Max was okay.   
Natasha and Bruce had tried to call her plenty of times, they didn't know if she had taken her phone or where she was taking her dog. Tony had tried to trace her but she managed to take one of only three cars in the collection that didn't have a tracker and there was no way for Friday to find her, the car she took was still waiting to be integrated in to the system.

Just as Natasha was about to suggest they went out to look for her, they heard the door open. It was the first place Dani had thought to come to, she'd assumed they would all know what had happened by now and the eleven missed calls on her phone confirmed to her that they were worried.   
She stopped as she entered the room and looked each of them in the eye.   
As soon as Wanda saw her she knew.   
She ran a hand down her face "Oh, Dani.." she said as she got up from her seat to walk towards her friend. 

Dani wanted to speak, she wanted to tell them, they'd want to know. But the lump in her throat just wouldn't let her. She knew that as soon as she said the words it would all be real, as if somehow if she just kept it to herself she'd wake up with Max laying on her chest like he was that morning, only this time, when she called him for breakfast he'd come bounding out of the bedroom to stuff his face like he had every single day for the last six years.   
She couldn't do it, she couldn't let it be real. "I can't.." She said to the worried faces in front of her.  
She didn't know what she wanted to say, she just knew that she couldn't.. couldn't do anything.   
"I'm sorry." She held her hands up defensively, shaking her head as Wanda walked towards her. She quickly turned and exited the room leaving everyone in silence looking at each other. Nobody knew what to say, what to do. There was nothing they could do to make this okay. Nothing they could say to her that would even begin to ease her pain. "Should I go talk to her?" Wanda asked the group.   
"Give her some time." Bruce replied quietly.

Dani had been sitting on her sofa for what seemed like an eternity, staring under the table blankly at Max's bed. She wasn't thinking, she wasn't feeling. She was just numb.   
She walked over and bent down to the bed, picking up Rupert, his favourite bear that she'd affectionately named. As she looked over the scruffy looking bear with one eye and an ear barely hanging on, she thought of the last time she saw him bouncing around the garden with the poor teddy flopping around in his mouth. She thought of day she gave it to him. It was hers as a child but when she looked at the tiny puppy, seeing his little body snoring away in his enormous basket she couldn't help but lift his little paw and tuck the bear underneath it. From that day on, the dog and the bear had become inseparable. 

She picked up the hammer that was placed on the kitchen table and gently put Rupert in it's place.   
Slowly she walked over to her project that was stood on the floor near the door to the garden.   
She never did get a chance to finish his new friend for him.   
She looked at it for a while, expressionless.  
Before she knew what she was doing she was screaming, smashing the thing to pieces with the hammer. Pieces of metal were sent flying across the floor, some hitting the walls and a few bits even flying up, hitting Dani in the face. She didn't care. She wanted to feel the pain. She felt like she deserved it. What if she'd never gone to the party? Would she have known there was something wrong with him earlier? Would he still be here now? 

As she readied herself to take a another swing, hammer held high above her head she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. She hadn't noticed someone had come in. Prying the hammer from her hand Vision turned her around to face him, looking into her eyes that were red and streaming with tears, her dark make up from the night before forming lines down her cheeks.   
He didn't say anything, he knew that right now, there was nothing to say. He took a step towards her, he dropped the hammer to the floor, now placing his free hand around the back of her neck, pulling her towards him.   
He pulled her tightly against his chest, wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could without hurting her, her arms in front of her body, pressed between herself and his firm body. She collapsed to the floor, Vision following her down as she fell to her knees still holding her tightly, he lifted her on to his lap, tangled his hand in to her hair and cradled her head to his shoulder as her body shook violently with each silent sob.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been three and a half weeks before most of the team had seen Dani.   
Bruce dropped by every so often, as did Natasha and Wanda to make sure she was coping, to offer to take her into the oustside world as she hadn't been out of her quarters but she refused every time.   
The morning following Max's death she did get herself out of bed although she hadn't slept a wink, she got herself ready like she always did before Friday insisted that Tony didn't need her that day "Mr. Stark would like you to take as much time as you need." the bodiless voice told her. "You can return to work whenever you fell you're ready."   
  
She didn't do much with her spare time, after a week she finally forced herself to box away Max's things and store them atop her wardrobe, everything but Rupert. He had a new spot on the centre of the shelf above the TV next to the small metal box that contained Max's ashes. She spent time watching films and cleaning, although the place was already as clean as it could get but it took her mind off of things.   
She hadn't eaten much at all. Natasha and Wanda had both noticed she'd lost some weight and on her already tiny frame it looked worse what it was.   
Her five closest friends held a meeting between themselves and decided some tough love might be needed.   
  
Natasha knocked on Dani's door and waited for her to answer. It had only been since her best friend's passing that she bothered to lock it. She held an open door policy before that, anyone was welcome to come and go as they pleased. But right now she just wanted to be left alone. After a few inpatient minutes of waiting, Natasha was finally greeted at the door by a tired, shockingly rough looking Dani. She let herself in, heading in to the bedroom as Dani returned to her place laying across the sofa watching a black and white movie tucked under a blanket.   
"How long have you been there?" Natasha asked.   
"Dunno. A few days." Dani replied not taking her eyes off of the screen.   
Natasha reappeared in the seating area, launching a towel, a black knee length dress, black pumps and a make up bag at Dani, it landing on her stomach as Natasha stood at the end of the sofa with her arms folded.   
"You can't carry on like this." she began to lecture the woman but she didn't want to hear it. "Max is gone, I know it hurts but is this really what he'd want? When you were happy, he was happy. You need to accept what happened. It wasn't your fault, it wasn't anybody's fault."   
  
Dani just turned to look at her friend, still not saying a word.   
"Shower, dressed, face on. We're going out" she ordered as she stepped to the side pointing Dani towards the bathroom.   
"I'm not ready." Dani said as she pulled the blanket up to her chin. Natasha wasn't having any of it. She leant forward ripping the blanket off her and throwing it to the floor behind the sofa. "Do I look like I'm here to listen to you piddly-ass excuses? Move."   
Now Dani knew better than to piss off the Black Widow. She peeled herself off the sofa picking up the clothes and towel that had fallen to the floor and headed in to the bathroom with her head down like a scolded puppy.

.........

Natasha had bundled Dani in to her black Chevrolet Stingray and were on the road before Dani finally spoke to her.   
"Where are we going?" she asked, actually feeling a little better now she was clean, dressed and knots brushed out of her hair.   
"You'll see."   
She knew the roads they were taking, it looked like they were heading to Coney Island beach. But why would they go there?

That was exactly where they were going. They got out of the car and headed to a quiet part of the beach where Dani spotted the team, standing in a group chatting amogst themselves near the water's edge. They turned to face her as she approached, Clint pointing out her arrival to the others. They greeted her with smiles and hellos as she neared with a questioning look on her face.   
Before she could ask what was going on Bruce walked towards her with a friendly sympathetic smile, handing her a small metal box. Max's ashes.   
She knew better than to question how a group of spies, soldiers and super heroes got in to her quarters to take the box. She assumed they taken it after Natasha shoved her out of the door and followed them up in their own cars. He took the box gently, smiling at Bruce, knowing what she had to do.   
She said nothing as her friends all took a step back giving her some space to say her goodbyes.

Walking to the edge of the water, the waves touching the tips of her shoes as she stood looking down at the box in her hands and hesitantly opening the lid, she thought so hard of something to say that she hadn't already said to him a thousand times in her head. "I'll take care of Rupert for you, baby. I miss you more than you know." She wiped away a single tear before stepping out into the water, soaking her shoes and tilting the box, watching the ashes as the wind took them out in to the ocean.  
"Finally got your feet wet." She smiled to herself and took a moment to look out on to the horizon.   
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Tony stood slightly behind her looking out to sea. "Well done." He said before wrapping and arm around her shoulders and walking her back to the group. "You ready?" Natasha asked her, nodding towards the direction they came in. "Yeah, let's go." She said with the first real smile Natasha had seen on Dani's face for the best part of a month.


	15. Chapter 15

Back at the facility Wanda had gone back to Dani's quarters with her to keep her company. It was a big step she'd just taken and she was proud of her. She wanted to spend a little time with her friend and felt that it was the right time for her to have some company after being shut away for so long and Dani was thankful to have someone to chat with. She hadn't realised how much she missed talking to someone other than herself. 

The two sat on a sofa, their feet tucked underneath them, facing each other as Wanda caught Dani up on what she'd been missing over the past four weeks.   
She got Dani to eat a whole meal for the first time since Max left and were enjoying a bottle of beer as they talked away the hours with the TV on silently in the background.   
"Can I ask you something?" Wanda probed after taking a sip from her bottle.   
"Yeah of course you can." Dani said with a chuckle, wondering why her friend felt the need to ask her if it was okay to question her about anything.   
"He meant more to you than you let on. He wasn't just a dog. I Never looked in to your mind, I didn't need to, but I sensed something more. What is it?" She asked her softly, wondering if it was too soon to be asking those sorts of questions. She didn't expect Dani to answer. She knew she was hiding something and there must have been a good reason for her to do so.   
"It wasn't a night out." Dani said, leaning to place her empty bottle on the table that stood between the two sofas.   
"What do you mean?" Wanda asked, willing her to continue.   
"When I found Max. It wasn't after a night out with friends like I said." She took a deep breath as she straightened herself. "I was walking back from the hospital when i found him in that dumpster."   
"The hospital?" Wanda questioned with confusion and concern.   
"Yeah. I was pregnant. I was with a guy for three years. We hadn't planned on it but when we found out he was over the moon. I'd never seen him so happy. We figured it was as good a time as any. I'd finished studying by then, I was in a good job, so was he. We had a lovely apartment, we were stable. There was no reason not to."

She stood up to go to the kitchen and get herself another beer from the fridge, grabbing a second for Wanda. She continued her story as she handed the drink over.   
"I wasn't far along, 11-12 weeks at the most I was told. There was an accident in the lab, someone had spilt oil on the floor, i slipped. Next thing I knew I was waking up the hospital and Josh was telling me we weren't going to be parents after all."   
Wanda scooted closer to her friend, resting a reassuring hand on her knee.   
"I look back at it now and I know it wasn't the right time. I was young and as much as I loved him I wasn't sure if he was someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was too much for him. I spent four days in the hospital and by the time I was ready to leave he'd already walked away. He never said it but I could tell he blamed me. So.. I walked back to the apartment on my own after I was discharged and that's when I heard him. This pathetic whimper from down an alley. I opened the lid and just saw these massive brown eyes attached to this bundle of fur, looking up at me like he expected me to rescue him. He was so skinny, his massive paws and floppy ears looked ridiculous" she said with a laugh, she could picture it as if it were just yesterday. "I wasn't going to keep him, I didn't want any pets, but I couldn't leave him there. I took him home, fed him with all good intentions of taking him to a shelter in the morning. I couldn't. The way he looked at me and made himself at home as soon as we got through the door. I knew I was supposed to find him. Like he was put there for me. He was like a replacement for something I never had."   
"He was your baby." Wanda clarified as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind Dani's ear.   
"Exactly." Dani said, suddenly feeling lighter.  
Letting Max's ashes go and finally sharing her story with someone had lifted a massive weight from her shoulders and for the first time in a long time she felt almost free. Like her pain was dissolving, almost as though she'd finally found the words to tell her furry friend just how important he was to her.

After their chat the two got themselves dressed and presentable for a night out after Wanda convinced Dani that she needed to start getting some normality back in her life.   
They met with Natasha after finishing up her training for the day and headed in to town in a taxi.   
It was 7pm and they were already pretty drunk in an Irish bar before growing tired of the endless advances and offers of drinks from men. It was settled, they'd grab a few packs of beers and a bottle of whiskey on their way back to Dani's place.

The girls sung Christmas Carols on their way through the corridors after arriving back, none of them stopping to question their choice of genre, being as it was the only the beginning of autumn. They carried a six pack of their chosen beers each, with Natasha swinging an extra bottle of Jack Daniels by her side as she walked.   
"WAIT!" Dani shouted as she stopped abruptly outside of Tony's office. Her two friends stopped, wondering what was so important.   
The lights were off in the office so she knew Tony had to be elsewhere. She stood with her back to the door, poking the tip of her tongue out of the side of her mouth as the reached a hand behind her back, fiddling with the handle. "It's open." She whispered with a sly grin.   
"Yeah?" Natasha and Wanda said in sync.   
"Wait here!" she ordered as she placed her drinks on the floor and ran, albeit, slightly wobbly up the corridor towards her quarters.  
Less than a minute had passed when Dani returned to see her the two other women sat on the floor opposite the door with a drink each in their hands.   
"What the fuck?" Natasha asked as she saw Dani appear from around the corner with a 20 pack of tissue paper.   
"Oh, YES" Wanda jumped up "I've always wanted to do this!" 

...............................

Half an hour later the girls were back at Dani's, Wanda sat on the sofa with it's back to the entrance as Dani and Natasha shared the one opposite.   
"Blackjack!" Dani shouted as she slapped her hand on the pile of cards in the centre of the table.   
"I don't think that's how you play jackback." Natasha laughed.   
"Huh?" Wanda screeched with a baffled expression "I thought we were playing poker?"   
"I lost track about ten minutes ago." Natasha admitted taking a sip of her drink. 

"Dr. Woods, Mr Stark has requested your presence in meeting room one, along with Miss Romanoff and Miss Maximoff."   
The women looked at each other before Dani leaned forwards with her index finger placed to her lips. "Shhhhhh, he doesn't know where we are." Dani said in a loud whisper. "Oh, good idea," Natasha whispered in agreement.   
Of course he knew where they were. All he had to do was ask Friday if she hadn't already informed him of their whereabouts. "  
Top Gun!" Dani said excitedly as she jumped up from the sofa.   
"What's a Top Gun?" Wanda asked,   
"You haven't seen Top Gun?" Natsha questioned in mild disbelief. Wanda just shook her head.   
As Dani searched through Netflix on the TV, they heard Friday's voice again. "Mr. Stark is still awaiting your arrival in meeting room one."   
"Oh pipe down, Friday." Natasha scolded the assistant, earning a hearty chuckle from Wanda.

They hadn't heard from the AI in a while, they'd forgotten all about it in their drunken state. They were around half way through the film before they started chatting again, now hilariously discussing Natasha's sex life and wondering what would happen if he'd ever gone green during the act, the conversation somehow being spurred on by the movie's sex scene.   
They heard a knock at the door, suddenly realising that it could well be Tony come to find them after they failed to turn up to the meeting. They sat and looked at each other with wide eyes all shushing each other, trying not to give away their position by laughing.   
"Dr woods?.... Dani?" they heard the familiar English voice.   
"Are you alone?" Natasha shouted at the door.   
"Yes." Vision replied.   
"Well come in then" shouted Dani.   


As he entered he looked around the room at the three ladies before explaining his presence.  
"I'm sorry to interrupt but Tony has sent me to escort you to the meeting room. He's been waiting for some time."   
"He's been waiting for some time." Dani mocked the android in his own voice.   
"I don't understand." Vision responded, with a slight frown.   
"I don't understand." Dani said, again in Vision's voice.   
"Oh my god, you sound just like him!" Wanda squealed in a fit of hysterics.   
"You're drunk" Vision stated, half factually, half questioning.   
"You're sexy!" Dani joked, pulling her best sexy face him. 

Wanda was now in tears on the sofa opposite Dani, pulling her knees up to her now aching stomach, trying to breathe through the laughter. Natasha was doubled over next to Dani, cracking up herself.   
"Friday, would you please inform Tony that.." The 'crimson ninja' didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Wanda jumped up from the chair with it's back to Vision.   
"No no no no we're going!" she squealed as she lunged at the man attempting to cover his mouth but missing by a good foot and tumbling over the back of the sofa, landing in a heap on the floor out of sight of the other women.   
"Oh shit! Are you okay!?" Dani asked, still laughing, not moving from her chair.   
There was a silence before her and Natasha saw Wanda's shoes appear from behind the sofa and her cackling laugh let everyone know she hadn't hurt herself. The two seated women got up and walked around to see Wanda laying on her back, flailing her arms and legs around as if she were trying to swim though the air. With a laugh, they took an arm each, peeling their friend off of the floor and standing her upright.   
"Let's do this!" Natasha said with a weird enthusiasm as she began to walk out of the door, Wanda following behind her. 

Dani was the last to leave the room, walking past Vision who was chivalrously stood with his back to the door, holding it open to let the ladies out before himself. She stopped a few inches in front of him, tiptoeing as high as she could, poking her face out towards his and giving him the biggest, cheesiest toothy grin anyone had ever seen.   
He looked at her as a barely noticeable smile played across his lips and his lower lids raised.   
_"What's he thinking?"_ Dani wondered to herself as she took her index finger and stretched up, poking him on the tip of his nose "BOOP!"  
She spun around on her heels before skipping out of the door and down the hall towards Natasha who had her left arm around Wanda's shoulders as they walked.   
"WAIT FOR MEEEE!" She shouted as she skipped towards them, standing on the other side of Wanda and placing an arm around her shoulders under Natasha's before the trio began to skip in time as they disappeared around the corner from Vision's view.  
He couldn't help but smile as he closed Dani's front door. Even through her cheekiness and mockery he could feel her affections towards him were real and he loved how she came out of her shell after a few drinks. She was a little scatty but he found it endearing. 

"So, what genius toilet papered my entire office?" Tony asked Dani, Natasha and Wanda who were sat silently around a huge oak table, Tony standing at the end with his hands in his pockets. The three women immediately began to smile.   
"That answers that question." Tony mumbled.   
"In our defence you asked us to look after Dani, help her, make her feel welcome bla bla bla. We were helping her." Wanda replied with a grin.   
"Great.. You know the TP was one thing but drawing tiny dicks on the corners of every piece of paprwork? Not cool, guys. Not cool."   
Wanda and Natasha looked at each other a little confused before looking over to Dani with her hand raised up in the air as if she was back in school. "My bad" she said hanging her head with a fake pout "but I did tell you I'd get you back."   
"You're all clearing it up in the morning. Now off you go, drunks." He told them as he took a sip of his whiskey on the rocks.   
Just as they were walking out the door in single file, Dani at the rear, Tony called out to her from his place at the table. "Oi, short round! Well played. It's good to have you back."


	16. Chapter 16

"Get your asses up!" Dani heard Tony's voice as she enjoyed a morning bath.  
"I am up! Why have you hijacked Friday?"  
"You're the only one. Your drinking buddies are still out of it. Not hijacking, borrowing. That office isn't getting any cleaner y'know."  
"Ah, balls, yeah give me an hour?" She requested so she'd have plenty of time to eat and get ready for the day.  
"One hour. You coming back to work today?" He asked her, hopefully. "I'm starting to think I'm paying you too much."  
"Uh, yeah. Let's do it!" 

Dani dressed herself in some black skinny jeans and combat boots with a thin grey jumper that hung off one of her shoulders and threw her damp auburn waves up in to pony tail before doing her make up and heading out to clear up the office.  
As she arrived at Tony's office to get started she saw Natasha leaving and closing the door.  
"It's been done." She said.  
"Did you do it on your own?" Dani asked her.  
"I didn't touch it and Wanda's still getting dressed."  
Dani raised an eyebrow. "Well that's a mystery for later then. I'm off to work!" She said, finishing her sentence with an animated gasp.  
"Good. Call me later, yeah? I need to talk to you."  
"Yes sir!" Dani chirped as she saluted her friend, cheerily turning on her heels ready to head off and start her day.   
She really was looking forward to getting back in to the lab after spending so long hiding away.

"Morning ladies!" Dani greeted Bruce, Tony and Vision who were working on some kind of formula on a large white board, scrubbing out each other's work and replacing it with their own writing. She was surprised to Steve perched on the edge of a table watching them work.  
"Hey stranger." Bruce said with a smile. "How you doing?"  
"I'm good, I'm good." She replied with a big smile.  
"Good morning Dani, it's good to see you. You look.. Better." Vision greeted her. She wasn't really sure what he meant by 'better' but she thanked him anyway.  
"Didn't know you were back, Cap."  
"Lead went cold." He said scratching his head "I heard what happened. You know, If there's anything i can do.."  
"Thank you, but I'm fine really. Oh I didn't get a chance to thank you for helping me back to bed my first night" she said with a slight air of embarrassment to which Steve replied with a nod "any time."

"So what are we working on?" she asked them as she approached the board to take a look, now noticing that the scribbles weren't mathematical formulas at all.  
"Trying to explain The Matrix to this fossil." Tony told her, pointing his marker towards Steve.  
"Oh, been busy in my absence then, I see" Dani laughed.  
"We watched it last night, it gave me a headache, this isn't helping." Steve said with a sigh.  
"Well, I'm going to do some actual work." Dani said as she began to walk to her usual work station "Vision, when you're ready."  
Just as Dani pulled up a screen to begin she felt a vibrating in her pocket.  
"Scrub that." She said to Vision as she pulled the phone out of her pocket "I've gotta get this, carry on. Back in a minute."  
She rushed out into to hall to answer before the caller hung up.  
"Hey lanky!" She answered the phone with enthusiasm and a huge smile.  
"Hey shrimp! It's your birthday soooooon." Said the male voice at the end of the phone.  
"Keen memory there, I like it." Dani replied with sarcasm.  
"Well what have you got planned?" He asked.  
"Haven't thought about it to be honest."  
"You've got two days to think about it. I'm coming to Washington."  
"With two days notice?!"  
"Well, actually I'll be there tomorrow."  
"What?! I'm not even in Washington."  
"Where the hell are you? I already booked the flight."  
"New York."  
"Tony?"  
"Yup, I've been here just over a month. If you called more, you might know that." She joked.  
"Takes two to tango, little lady!"  
"I know, I've had a lot on, I'm sorry. Can you change your tickets, get a flight to New York?"  
"Anything for you, Thumbelina! I'll text you the time, you can come pick me up."  
"Oh thank you for that high honour. See you tomorrow I guess..." she said before ending the call.

"Well then!" Dani said, rubbing her hands together as she returned back to the lab, the four super heroes still obsessing over their board.  
"When you're ready, again." She said to vision with a smile.  
"Hey, Tony, what happened in the office?" She asked him hoping for an explanation for it's sudden cleanliness.  
"You and your sidekicks trashed it?" He said, assuming she'd forgotten the events of the previous night.  
"No, I know that. It was already clean when I got there this morning."  
"I believe I can shed some light on that." Vision said, leaving his place at the white board and heading over to Dani to begin work.  
"You tidied up?" She asked him with a small from.  
"I saw it in passing early this morning, I assumed it was you and the reason you were hiding from Tony last night."  
"Aww you didn't have to do that! I owe you big time!" She said gratefully, patting the stool next to her, signalling him to sit down.  
"Thank you for doing that. So, where we a whole month ago?" She said in a joking manner and she pulled a pen from the pot in front of her.  
"Synthetic nerve impulses."  
"Right then. Bruce I need you in on this! Tony, I think Cap's about to have a meltdown give the man a break." She said, rescuing Steve from his torture, the poor man still none the wiser about the mind-numbing movie he'd watched the night before.  
He stood up running his hand down his face in exasperation.  
"Run Steve! Run while you still can!" She joked as he began to walk towards the door.  
"Oh Tony, I need to talk to you later about having a visitor when you're free."


	17. Chapter 17

It was the day Dani's visitor was due to arrive. It was cleared by Tony that he could stay at the facility and Dani was happy to let him crash on her sofa.  
She was up and in the lab early with Bruce, Tony was out shopping, being swamped by fangirls no doubt and the rest of the team were training hard.  
Today Dani wanted to measure the electrical impulses in Vision's brain in response to emotion and compare it to those of a human.  
They both wanted to get a better understanding of how the stone was capable of allowing him to feel.  
They'd been working all morning, he'd been in MRI scanners for a few hours, Dani put some music on for him to listen to while the machine hummed and buzzed loudly around his head. He was currently listening to Beethoven's Fur Elise with his eyes closed, staying completely still as he'd been told.   
"Okay, I think I've got it." He heard as the music stopped and Dani's voice came over the speakers "I'm pulling you out, you can come back now."

Finally free from the loud machine, Vision made his way back to the lab from the side room where Dani could see him through an internal window while he was being scanned.   
He stood close behind her looking at the black and white images of his brain on the screen as she moved the images around the clear, screen with gentle hand gestures, showing him cross sections of images and explaining to him what she was seeing. She didn't need to explain, he knew exactly what he was looking at.  
She knew that and he knew that she was aware but he enjoyed studying her and hearing her voice as she used her hands as she always did for emphasis and to illustrate what she was saying. She didn't like to study him as though he was a science project, like he wasn't there, so she tried to involve him as best she could even if that did mean stating the obvious.

"How's it going titch?" Came Tony's voice from behind them.   
"Crimson Ninja" he greeted Vision with a nod.  
"Good, take a look" she said handing some papers behind her, her eyes still glued to the screen.  
"Why are you handing me things?" He asked Dani. "Why is she handing me things?" Now directing his question towards Vision as if he held the answer.  
"You're ridiculous" she said "who hates being handed things this much?".  
"Me! I do!" He replied, throwing his hand up in to the air.  
She stood up placing the papers on the table beneath the screen "There you go, I'll put it there, you pick it up when you're ready" she said giving him a patronising pat on the head.

She pulled out a chair next to her table, ushering Vision over to take a seat before standing behind him and beginning to place electrodes to the back of his head, working her way around to the sides before eventually placing the last four across his forehead.  
She bent down close in front of him with her hands on her knees staring intensely to make sure they were exactly where she needed them as he stared back at her taking note of her beautiful features.  
"This should be fun" she said as she patted him on the shoulder with a big smile.  
"You're idea of fun is way out of line from normal people." Tony mumbled as he skimmed the pages of the file Dani had tried to hand him a few moments before. "You know you should have left for the airport ten minutes ago right?" He added.  
"Oh bollocks! Err.." She said turning to the clock, noting it had just turned midday and waving her hands about, looking at Vision's head "I can't leave this now, you know I love you so much?"  
"Nope." Tony refused as she already knew exactly what she was going to ask.  
"Please, I didn't realise what the time was and I'm not at a stopping point."   
"I'll send a driver. I'll meet him when he gets here if you're still doing this. That's it."  
"Thank you!" She chirped as she skipped over and placed a loud kiss on his cheek before he wandered off out of the room.

.....................

Dani had finally finished with the electrodes, gently removing them in the order she stuck them on.   
Vision was standing now to keep the wires straight so the didn't tangle as she removed them, stretching up and tiptoeing around him to reach.  
Peeling off the final one she realised he was looking straight down in to her eyes with his thinking face.  
She froze under his intense gaze, her fingers half way through removing the sticky pad and looked back in to his eyes, studying the robotic lines and details that surrounded his iris. She felt her heart begin to beat faster and her breathing increase as she willed herself to look away before the urge to press her lips to his became more than just an urge.

"Hey Butt Munch!" came a loud English voice from behind her.  
 _"Thank god"_ she thought to herself in relief, thankful for the interruption.  
She peeled off the final electrode and wound the wire up, letting out a long breath to calm her nerves before spinning around to see a tall man,  a few inches shorter than the man she'd just been admiring. Scruffy, deep brown hair and dark stubble contrasted his pale complexion while dark eyelashes framed his large blue eyes.   
She quickly walked towards the man, jumping up to hug him tightly as he dropped his large bag to the floor to catch and give her a long squeeze.  
"God it's good to see you" she said as the man put her down, and looked over her "I'm sorry I didn't pick you up, I got tied up, forgot to keep an eye on the time."  
"Forget it." he said with a genuine smile.  
"Well, you're here now." She said as Bruce approached the man, shaking his hand.  
"Good to see you again" he said as the two shared a manly hug and pat on the back "how's your work going?"  
"Yeah, great" the man replied "we've finally cracked how to remove.."  
"Seriously?" Dani interrupted "You've literally just got here, can't you bromance later?"  
"Fine" the man said as he rolled his eyes and smiled "Beers later?" he asked Bruce.  
"Yeah, sure, be fun." Bruce accepted his invite, turning back to his screen to soldier on with analysing Dani's results.

  
"Vision.." Dani began her introduction as she took her guest by that arm, leading him forward a few feet towards the android "this is Joe, my older brother."  
"Pleased to meet you." Vision said with his usual gentle voice, extending a hand to Dani's brother which he took in a firm handshake.  
"Wow, your work just gets weirder and weirder" He said, gawking at the strange looking man/machine in front of him.  
He took a step forward looking in to Vision's eyes before poking him with his index finger, beginning with his chest before prodding at his cheeks, Tony stood behind them, facing Vision, laughing silently, partly at Joe's reaction and partly as Dani's obvious discomfort.  
This was something Vision hadn't experienced before and looked to Dani hoping she'd offer in some insight in to why this man felt the need to poke and prod him.

"Joe, stop." Dani told her brother.  
"What, I just want to see what's it's made from. It's incredible, it feels like skin. It's definitely more impressive than your old projects. Do you remember that robot cat you made when you were 12? That thing was dangerous!"  
Dani sighed, swatting her brother's hand away from the very confused super hero. "IT is a HE and HE isn't a robot."  
"What? What is it? What's that thing it it's head?"  
"HE, Joe, HE!" She corrected him again.   
"Vision, can I borrow you?" Bruce called over, unaware of the conversation and unknowingly saving the poor man.  
"I'll explain later. Let's get you settled in" She told him as she gestured for him to pick up his bag from the floor take him to her  quarters to show him around.  
"I'm so sorry" she mouthed to Vision as she lead her brother with her hands on his back, gently pushing him out of the lab and away from her embarrassment.  
He replied silently with a smile and a small shake of his head, signalling to her that he wasn't bothered by Joe's unusual reaction.

 

......................

 

"... so physically he's every bit a human, just manufactured, in a sense." Dani continued her explanation of Joe's faux pa back in the lab.  
"That's freaky!" He said raiding Dani's fridge for a beer "this is nice though, this one room's bigger than your entire apartment!"  
He pulled a beer from the fridge, tossing one over to his sister.  
"Dan?" he began, looking around her quarters "where's Max?"  
Dani, looked at her brother and pursed her lips together, the look on her face told him without her needing to say anything.  
"Oh sis I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?!" he sat beside her and pulled her in to a hug.  
"I'm okay" she said with a week smile.  
"When?" he asked in a now more gentle tone.  
"About five weeks ago. He came to bed one night and just didn't wake up. I had no idea he was sick, he was exactly as he always was. Playing, jumping around, stuffing his face. Cancer really is a bitch."  
"You should have called." He told her.  
"So, you going out with the guys tonight or not?" she asked, wanting to change the topic, noting that is was nearing 'beer o'clock'.  
"You sure you don't mind?"  
"No, don't be stupid. It's my birthday tomorrow anyway so you get to spend the whole day spoiling me!"


	18. Chapter 18

It was 3am when Joe finally fell through the door, waking Dani from her place on the sofa where she'd fallen asleep watching Equilibrium.  
She was a sucker for a sci-fi.  
She opened her eyes to see Joe propping himself up against the door, shouting back down the corridor to a hoard of loud male voices "NOT ON MY WATCH!" to which the voices replied in perfect synchronism "NOT ON MY WATCH!" followed be a round of painfully loud laughter.  
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes "actually, I don't want to know."  
Joe had wrestled the door closed before falling into the opposite sofa.  
"Those guys are awesome!" he said loudly.   
"Those guys?"  
"Yeah, I went out with Tony and Bruce then these two black guys turned up with some guy that's apparently good with a bow and   
Captain America. Capitan America! The Legend!"  
"Yeah, he's cool" Dani said with a smile "we hung out a lot last time I was in New York. He took me to bed my first night here. Sweet guy."  
"Wait. What??" Joe asked, jumping up in his seat "You slept with Captain America? I didn't need to know that, but well fucking done!"  
"No, you moron!" Dani clarified "I got drunk with Natasha, passed out in the common room and he carried me back here."  
"I don't know who Natasha is but I'd have stuck with the 'having sex with Rogers' story. Much more impressive." Joe insisted.  
"Well, now you've completely grossed me out, I'm going to bed" she said as she threw a blanket over her brother and handed him a pillow.  
"Help yourself to whatever in the kitchen. I've got to work for a bit in the morning then I'm all yours after, you take me out for lunch."  
"Working on your birthday? You're like middle aged!"  
"Goodnight Joe. Don't puke on my sofa."

Dani had snuck out to lab the next morning leaving her brother snoring on the sofa.  
Bruce was already hard at work when she arrived. "Do you ever sleep?" She asked him "it's like you never leave this room."  
"I'm an early bird, what can I say? You'll like this, come see." He invited her over to see what he was working on.  
"His liver enzymes are identical to ours" he told her pointing his pen at a picture on the screen of what looked like the insides from a party popper.  
"No way!" Dani exclaimed as she turned to look at Vision who was occupied at a screen on the other side of the room.  
"Vision, did you drink at Tony's party?" she asked him.  
"Of course, I drink water every day." He told her, looking up at her "my body can metabolise and break down fluids and foods just as yours can."  
"I know, sweetie" Dani said with a soft laugh "I mean, did you drink alcohol?"  
"No, it's not something I've tried" he told her with a thoughtful look on his face.  
"You can get drunk." she told him rather excitedly.  
"Should I... Get drunk?" he asked her, she loved how he sounded like a confused child at that moment.  
"Well I'm not saying you should. I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'm just saying you can. The option is there. Maybe you should go out with the rest of the guys one night, it's a new experience for you. It's a worryingly large part of our culture."  
"I'll sleep on it." He told her with a cheeky smile.  
"You're sleeping now!? When did that happen?"  
"No, that was a joke" he said rather proudly before returning his attention to his screen.  
"What's he doing over there?" Dani whispered to Bruce.  
"Beats me, but he keeps smiling. He's either watching porn or cat videos." He joked, earning a snort of laughter from Dani.  
"Should I ask him?" she wondered out loud.  
"Depends if you really want to know the answer" Bruce chuckled.  
"Hey Vision" Dani called cautiously "Watcha up to?"  
"I'm reconfiguring the fragments of Jarvis' memory that were scattered by Ultron. They were not lost, he simply hid them."

.................

Dani had gone back to her quarters to meet her brother and 'let' him take her out for lunch.  
She found him laying where she'd left him that morning with a concoction of fried food on on a plate in his lap, holding a fork  up to his face studying the meat that was hanging from it. "The bacon here is weird." He said as she walked through the door. "It's all fatty and stringy."  
"Looks like I'm having lunch here then" she said amusedly as she headed in to the kitchen.  
"What do you want to do tonight then boss?" Joe asked her with a mouth full of food.  
"Umm.. A few drinks maybe? Want me to invite the guys seeing as you so much fun last night?"  
"Up to you, your birthday. There is this club I want to go to though."   
"Okay, two birds with one stone." She smiled "Friday can you let the guys know we're going out tonight, ask them to come along."  
"I'm sorry Dr Woods. The team have just left for a mission, they aren't expected to return until Monday."  
"Nobody tells me anything in this place. I was with two of them less than ten minutes ago!"  
"Just you and me then kiddo" Joe beamed "don't worry, we'll have fun."


	19. Chapter 19

Dani was in her favourite little black dress, her hair flowing down her back with her big heels on as she arrived at the entrance to the club with her arm linked in her brother's.  
"This looks expensive" she whispered to him as she observed the small red carpet on the pavement, lined with metal poles attached to each other by red velvet rope that lead to two huge glass doors.  
"Don't worry about it, I haven't seen my baby sister all year, it's your birthday, I can splash out every now and then."  
"Baby sister? You're barely three years older than me!"  
The two walked up to a large bald man in a smart black suit standing in front of the doors with a clipboard in hand.  
"Woods." Joe said to the man.  
"Joe and Dani" The man confirmed "Go straight up, the VIP room is the first on your left up the stairs."  
"VIP?! Dani squealed, squeezing Joe's arm and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet."  
"Be cool, nerd!" Joe whispered to Dani.  
"Sorry" she said with a wide smile trying to hide her excitement and 'be cool'.

The doors were opened for them by two more men in suits who greeted them as they entered in to an enormous room decorated with gold coloured pillars that surrounded the dance floor. A bar stretched across the back of the room with the front of it illuminated by white lights hidden behind frosted glass. The music was booming and strobe lights flashing as the two manoeuvred their way through crowds of people to the gold adorned stair case at the back of the room, Joe leading Dani by the hand so his little sister wasn't lost in the crowd.  
  
"Your first VIP experience" Joe said as he readied himself to swing open one of the double doors signed VIP.  
"After you." He said as he stood to the side, opening the door for her.  
"SURPRISE!!!" Yelled a chorus of voices as there was a pop of a champagne bottle.  
"What the fuck?" Dani asked as she turned to look at Joe.   
"Happy Birthday little one".  
"I can't believe you did this!" she said as she jumped up to hug her brother tightly.  
"Hey, I had the easy job, I just had to lie to you, these guys did all the work."  
Dani looked around the room to see bunting and hundreds of balloons decorating the walls, the entire team standing looking very pleased with themselves.   
"I know you're too old for balloons but I wanted helium!" Clint shouted over the music in an impossibly high-pitched voice, waving a half empty balloon above his head before handing it to Dani.  
She sucked in the rest helium before shouting out "I love you guys!" in a squeaky voice and making her way over to the crowd to give everyone a hug.

...................

Dani was already on her fourth beer, sitting on a large black leather corner sofa with her head resting on Vision's arm to her left and Joe chatting to Wanda on her right.  
The men were standing a few feet in front of them in what could only be described as a macho air guitar competition while Natasha was at the small bar in  the corner.  
Joe leaned over to Dani, tapping her on the shoulder as she laughed at the men messing around "Dan, that Natasha.."  
"Oh hell no!" She said slapping her brother on the arm "she's taken. Very, very taken."  
"Dammit. Think she might be in to a bit of swinging?" he asked, not entirely sure if he was actually joking or not.  
"Mate, if you want to go toe to toe with Banner then go right ahead and ask her."  
"Uh, nope, I'm good!" he said, sitting back in his seat rethinking his earlier comments "How the hell did he manage that?" he asked her.

Natasha had arrived back from the bar just in time to save Dani from her brother's uncomfortable questions about her friend with her usual tray of shots.   
"Hey, guys! Shots!" she called over to them, breaking them away from their fierce competition.  
Everyone took a seat around the small table as Natasha set a row of three different coloured shots in front of each of them including Vision.  
"Yeah, I heard. You're one of us now" She said to him giving him a wink.  
"You getting in on this?" Dani asked Vision as she turned to him with a hopeful smile.  
"It is customary to share a drink with someone celebrating their birthday.. But maybe just the one" he said as he added two of his little glasses to Dani's row with a knowing smile.  
"This is not going to end well." Dani said looking scared of the drinks infront of her.

Everyone picked up one of their shots, holding them into the air when all of the the men shouted in sync "NOT ON MY WATCH!" as the three women and Vision looked at each other with confusion before throwing the drinks down their necks and immediately moving on to the next.  
Dani finished her five in record time and turned to her brother "you're going to have to explain that to me at some point."  
"I'll tell you when you're old enough to know" he replied ruffling her hair.  
"On that note, I need a smoke." Dani said as she slowly stood up from her chair "You coming?" she asked Joe, picking her handbag up from the floor."  
"Yeah, if I'm smoking yours."  
"Oooh look, exit." She said pointing to a door next to the bar, grateful that she didn't have to try and squeeze her way through the sweaty people and deafening music downstairs.

Dani was enjoying the cool air on top of a metal balcony with a staircase that lead to the street below as he brother lit up his second cigarette before blurting out "So what's going on with you and that red dude?"  
"Vision. Nothing's going on. Why would you think something's going on?" She said far too defensively for it to be convincing.  
"Dan, I've known you for twenty nine years now, I saw how you two were when I walked in to the lab yesterday. I'm not blind. I didn't think anything of it when i thought he was a robot and I'm not going to pretend to be okay with it now."  
"Not that is any of your business but there's nothing for you to be okay with" she said calmly.  
"I don't trust it. You don't know what it's thinking. It's not like it can ever have feelings for you back is it?"  
"HE, HE can feel everything you and I can and I'm far more qualified than you are to make a judgement about 'what HE's thinking'."  
"I'm not trying to upset you Dan, I don't want you to get hurt again, he's not even human. You wouldn't be defending him like this if there wasn't something going on."  
"We've had this conversation and he's more human than anyone else aroun.."

Dani cut herself off hearing the metal door screeching as it opened on to the balcony. Speak of the devil.  
"Hi, if you're finished, Natasha is asking for you." He said to Dani, holding the door open for her.  
She shot her brother a look that he knew meant 'keep your mouth shut' before returning inside to see what was so important.

Dani took a seat back on the sofa where Natasha and Wanda were chatting, noting that Vision hadn't followed her back in.  
 _"Was he trying smoking now?"_  She wondered.  
Wanda handed Dani a small box wrapped in silver paper "It's only a little something but we hope you like it."  
"No, you didn't have to do this" she said, getting a little emotional "you've thrown a great party, you've looked after me and I've had so much fun with you since I got here. You've done enough already."  
"Ah shut up and open it." Natasha said giving her a little shove.  
Dani carefully unwapped the silver paper revealing a navy blue hinged box inside.  
She opened it slowly to reveal a delicate silver chain with a small black shining stone as a pendant.  
"Your very own shooting star." Natasha said.  
"It's from a meteor that hit earth a few thousand years ago" Wanda explained "Vision told us you love the stars."  
"That's amazing! I love it! Thank you so much!" She said as she began to well up, pulling the two women in to her to squeeze them tightly.  
"Here" Wanda said, taking the necklace from Dani and gesturing her to turn round so she could put it on her.  
"Girly, emotional crap out of the way. Who want's a drink?" Natsha asked.  
"Good idea." Dani and Wanda replied.  
"I'm going to have anther smoke and check on those two, they've been out there for a while." Dani said as she got up to walk alongside Natasha.

  
"I don't care what you are, I don't want you near her!" Dani heard from her brother as she slowly pushed the heavy door open.  
 _"Not this again"_  she thought, forcing the door to open faster.    
Just as she stepped on to the balcony Joe landed a punch to Vision's face with a sickening crack.  
Vision's head barely moved before he locked eye's with Dani's brother.   
The lack of expression on his face and the fact that he barely flinched  terrified Joe, and Dani wasn't sure whether to be scared or relieved that he hadn't hit him back.. Yet.  
"What the fuck is going on?!" Dani yelled at the top of her voice "Vision, go inside please."  
He stared at Joe, emotionless, for a moment before walking silently back in to the club, closng the door behind him.  
"What is your problem?" She asked her brother, launching her lighter at him.  
"That thing is my problem!"  
"'That thing' could well have been your problem. Your worst nightmare, infact!"  
"The way it looked at me, like it wanted to kill me!"  
"You just twatted him round the face for no reason, what do you expect? If he wanted to kill you you'd be dead before you even knew what was going on."  
"And that's the sort of person you want to get involved with?"  
"I'm not involved and i'm not getting involved, you need to get that through your head before you get yourself hurt. Or worse. He's my friend, you don't just go around punching people because you don't like the way they look."  
"I think there's a little more to it than just the way he looks." Joe tried defending his actions.   
"Give it up Joe, seriously. I love you but you're being a monumental dick right now. You need to go and apologise. Now."

Dani took some time outside to calm herself down after her brother retreated back to the party to hopefully apologise like she'd ordered.  
She sat herself on the top step smoking and watching the people pass by below.  
 _"Is it really worth all this?"_ she wondered to herself _"nothing's even happened and that's the reaction I'm getting from people."_  
Stubbing her cigarette out on the wall before heading back inside, she noted Joe standing at the bar talking with Thor, he was pointing upwards so she assumed Thor was telling him all about Asgard.  
Vision was sitting chatting with Steve, Sam and Rhodey whilst Wanda, Natasha, Clint and Tony were dancing.  
"Hey" she said softly as she placed a hand on Vision's back to get his attention "Can I talk to you?"  
She lead him over to he VIP lounge entrance, out of ear shot of the others.  
"You okay?" she asked him.  
"Of course, I'm fine, he couldn't hurt me."  
"No I know, just, you're not upset or pissed or anything?"  
"No, I understand. I'm sorry he feels that way towards me but he just want's to protect you. He doesn't understand me, I'm not what you are and that confuses him."  
"It still doesn't make it okay. He's an ass. Only explanation." She said shaking her head, glancing over at her brother.  
"I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you, you must know that. I care for you a great deal." Vision promised her.  
Her face lit up "I know that, you don't have to explain it to me. I trust you, he's the one with the problem."  
"All is forgotten" He said with a reassuring smile "Do you like your gift?" He asked her looking down at thier necklace.  
"I love it, it's perfect. Thank you for giving them the idea." she said as she stood on her tiptoes with a hand on his shoulder for him to bend down allowing her to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.  
"Suppose I'd better go and talk to my darling brother now. I may or may not have nearly taken his eye out with a lighter."

Dani didn't bother to pull her brother away from his conversation with Thor as she tapped him on his shoulder.  
"Did you apologise?"  
"Yes I did"  
"Are you done being a douche?"  
"Look, if you say he's just a friend, than he's just a friend. I don't believe you but you're an adult and at some point I'm gonna have to butt out and let you make your own decisions. So from now on my lips are sealed. But I'm still not okay with it." He handed her a bottle of beer.  
"Now come and dance with your big brother!" He said as he took her hand and pulled her towards the dance floor where they head-banged and bounced up and down while trying not to spill their drinks to Queen.

........

  
It had just turned 4am and the club had closed. The group decided to talk a walk back to the facility, it was 40 minutes away but it was a clear, warm night and they were in high spirits.  They walked together sharing stories of their missions, Natasha and Bruce walked hand in had, Wanda and Clint were linking arms and the rest were arguing over who was ordering the Pizza when they got back.  
Dani began trailing behind the group and was a few meters behind before Joe realised she was no longer  walking with them.  
"You okay little one?" Joe called back, the rest of the group now halting in wait for her to catch up.  
"These shoes!" she whined as she ungracefully plopped herself down on to the pavement, painfully peeling her high heels off of her feet, revealing very bruised and slightly bloodied toes "Owwwwww!"  
Joe walked over, offering a hand to help her up.   
"We're only about fifteen minutes out, think you can manage?" Clint called over and she got back to her feet.  
Vision walked back to her "here" he said. He turned his back and crouched down on to his knees in front of her.  
"Piggy Vision!" she shouted as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.  
"You are so sweet, thank you" she said as be began carrying her back to the rest of the group, Joe behind them  with Dani's murderous shoes in his hands.  
"I'll catch up with you!" Joe called as he pulled a ringing phone from his back pocket, trailing slowly behind everyone else.  
Dani was still snuggled in to Vision's back with her legs wrapped around him and chin resting on his shoulder, watching where they were going. When she heard footsteps from behind them.  
"Dan I'm really sorry" Joe said "that was work, I've got to go back. They've booked me a flight, I leave in about five hours."  
"You can't go back" she complained, sliding down Vision's back, placing her feet on the floor "you only just got here!"  
"I'm sorry, I do need to be there but they've offered to fly me out again in a few weeks. Compensation sort of thing."  
"That sucks!" she sulked, wrapped her arms around her brother's middle and carrying on with her shoeless walk back.


	20. Chapter 20

Dani awoke around lunch time the next morning to find Joe already gone. She was a little upset to find he hadn't said goodbye but as she went to put the kettle on she saw a piece of paper, folded resting up against it. Of course Joe knew that was the first place she went in the morning.

**_Hey little one._ **

**_I'm sorry i didn't say goodbye, i did try to wake you up but you tried to bitch slap me._ **   
**_I'll call you when i get back to London and we'll sort out a good time for me to come back in the next few_ **   
**_weeks._ **

**_I know i was an asshole last night and i'm sorry._ **   
**_I think i broke a few fingers if that makes you feel any better._ **   
**_I just can't get my head around it._ **   
**_Whatever goes on with you two is between you and him and i know it's not my place. Just don't lie to me,_ **   
**_you never have and i've never lied to you. I don't want us to start now._ **   
**_But i'll always be there to defend you and fight your corner._ **   
**_Just know that if he hurts you i will be back and i will kill him._ **

**_See you in a few weeks, titch._ **

**_xxx_ **

Dani folded the paper back up and placed it on the table, laughing _"you'll 'kill him'.. He'd snap you like a twig"_ she though to herself.  
"Am I needed today Friday?" She asked.  
"Not today. Mr Stark has allowed everyone a day off to recuperate."  
She ran herself a bath and took her tea in with her after taking a few aspirin.  
She emerged from the bathroom a good hour later in a strappy top, girl boxers and football socks pulled up to her knees. Her face was free from make-up apart from a small amount of mascara that remained from the night before and her damp hair trailed down past her shoulders.  
  
"Helloooooo" She said with a suspicious smile as she saw Vision sitting at her table with a cup of tea in front of him.  
"Hello, I hope it's okay, the door was open." He asked, unsure of whether he was intruding.  
"That's why the door's open" she said with a smile "what's up?"  
He took a moment to look her over, he hadn't seen her without her make up before and he couldn't figure out why she wore it. She was every bit as beautiful without it.  
She raised her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for an answer as she noticed him eyeing her. "You ok?" she asked, snapping him out of it.  
"Yes, sorry. Here" he said sliding the cup away from him across the table towards her "tea, medium, two sugars and plenty of milk."  
She gave him a sideways glance, prompting him to explain.  
"One of Jarvis' memories"  
"Thank you. So, are you going tell me what's brought you here?" She asked, taking a seat opposite.   
He said nothing, just leant down to floor beside him, retrieving a medium sized cardboard box and placing it on the table on front of Dani.  
"What's this?" she asked, looking over the box.  
"A gift" he said with an unsure look in his eyes.  
"What for?"  
"Your Birthday was yesterday."  
"Yeah but you didn't have to get me anything, just being at the party and not murdering my brother was quite enough" she said with a laugh.  
"Please, open it." He said moving it a little closer to her.  
She gave him a huge grin before standing up to remove the lid from the box.  
"Oh my god" she whispered looking up into his eyes with shock.

She reached in to the box slowly, placing her hands underneath the bundle of black and white fur that was sleeping inside.  
"Hi" she whispered to the little creature, holding it up to her face to get a good look at it.  
"I wasn't sure if this was a good idea" Vision began to explain "I know there will never be a replacement for Max but I hoped this could be a new start for you."  
She didn't say anything as she held the tiny puppy to her chest as it excitedly licked and nibbled her chin.  
"She's a dalmatian, I'm told, nine weeks old. I named her Lola, but if you don't like it.."  
"I love it!" She said with tears in her eyes "she's perfect!"  
He stood up with a contented smile "I'll leave you two to get acquainted. Everyone's in the common room waiting to meet her when you're ready."  
He was half way to the door when Dani placed the little Lola down on the floor to explore her new home.  
"Wait!" She shouted to him, running towards him and jumping up in to his arms. He responded with his perfect reflexes, catching her with his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck in a warm embrace. "Thank you so much" she whispered, nestling her face in to the crook of his neck.   
"You're very welcome" he whispered back before gently placing a kiss to the side of her head.

...........

  
After getting herself ready and clearing up several Lola puddles, Dani carried her new fur baby and laptop up to the top floor where her friends were  
awaiting her.   
Wanda was the first to launch herself at Dani for cuddles with the puppy "Hello little one, I've been waiting to see you all morning" she cooed "your mummy slept for so long I thought we'd never get to meet you!"  
Wanda finally, reluctantly handed the dog over for cuddles with Clint as Natasha walked passed giving Lola a few unsure pats on the head.

Lola had been fussed to sleep and was nestled up into a ball, back on Wanda's lap on the sofa next to Vision as Dani sat at the kitchen table typing an essay of an email to her parents, letting them know the events of the last couple of months, she thought she'd leave out the part where Joe punched her android friend.  
Natasha and Bruce were now out for lunch, Tony was back at Stark tower and the rest of the guys had gone motor racing for the day.

Dani glanced over the top of her laptop to make sure Lola was still asleep, locking eyes with Vision and flashing him a smile before continuing  with her typing and online shopping for puppy things in a little world of her own as music from her headphones blocked out any noises around her.  
Wanda had noticed their glances at each other and Vision seemed preoccupied as the two watched their second Star Wars movie.  
"What's wrong?" she asked him.  
"I'm not sure, I feel.. Odd."  
"Odd? Emotionally or physically? Are you sick?" she questioned him, concerned for her closest friend.  
"No, it's different. I can't explain it."   
"Maybe you should talk to Dani, that's what she's here for" Wanda suggested.  
"No, I don't think it's something I should discuss with her" he said as he looked over to Dani.  
"Oh" Wanda said in sudden realisation "she's making you feel 'odd'".  
"I believe so." he whispered.  
"Okay, well talk to me" she said with a smile as she turned slowly to face him, making sure she didn't wake up the puppy.  
"I feel.. confused, sad and happy at the same time" he said, unsure of the words he was looking for.  
"Let's try this" Wanda began "do you think about her when you're not with her?"  
"All the time."  
"Do you miss her when you're not with her?"  
"I do."  
"Is there anything you wouldn't do to see her smile?"  
"I suppose not."  
"Then you, my friend" she said as she placed a hand on his leg, looking into his eyes with a smile "are in love."  
"Is this love?" he questioned her with a frown.  
"I can look in to your mind, if you'll allow me, and tell you for sure."  
He gave her a small nod and the pair glanced over at Dani who was now humming along to her music before Wanda's eyes emitted a  soft red glow. She searched his most vivid memories. Memories of when he'd first met Dani, of their walks around the grounds, the way she bit her lip when she was trying not to laugh. But the most vibrant of all were the kiss he gave her after Tony's party, the piggy back with her arms around him and her head resting on his arm last night, the hug she had given him after he gave her Lola.  
Wanda could feel his emotions exactly the way he did when she accessed them.  
Her eyes turned back to their deep brown as she smiled to him.  
"I love it when I'm right" she joked. "You know, she cares about you a lot too, you don't need to read her mind to be able to see that."


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning... smutty smut.

Dani was now back in her quarters and the sun was setting. She was putting down a temporary bed on the floor for Lola next to her own.  
"Sorry little one" she said as the puppy growled, tugging at the bottom of her jeans "but until you're bigger, you're sleeping on the floor. Don't want to squish you in the night."  
She bent down to pick her up, giving her a gentle squeeze when she heard a knock at her door  "Pizza delivery" she heard from an unfamiliar voice.  
"I didn't order Pizza" she said to herself heading to the door.  
She opened it to Natasha standing there with two pizza boxes and a tiny voice changer unit attached to her collar, Vision and Wanda stood behind her.  
"Did I miss something?" Dani asked.  
"It's Friday? Movie night?" she said as she let herself in "these two had nothing to do so they'll be joining."  
"The more the merrier" Dani smiled stepping aside to let them in.

  
Dani hadn't expected any visitors. That last time she had her regular Friday movie night with Natasha was before Max had passed away but she  
was grateful to be getting back in to her New York routine.  
"So what's the plan?" she asked opening the fridge to get them a beer each.  
"Netflix and... Chill." Vision replied with a large smile.  
Dani burst in to laugher "that sounded so weird coming from you! You need to stay away from social media."  
Dani threw them a beer each from the kitchen before clambering over the arm of the sofa with the bottle opener and taking a seat next to her red friend.  
They'd decided on War of the Worlds, Dani was sure just so the three of of them could pick holes in it and compare it to their own experience of alien and robot invasions.

They were half way through the film, Wanda's head was resting on Nataha's shoulder and Natasha was using Wanda's head as a pillow. Dani had her feet up on Vision's lap with his arms resting across her legs.  
"Miss Maximoff, Captain Rogers requires your assistance in the forecourt." Friday's voice interrupted their movie.  
"Typical, just when it's getting good" Wanda complained stroppily getting up from her comfortable position on Natasha.  
"I'll be as quick as I can, let me know what I miss" she said as she headed out of the door.

The movie was coming to and end when Dani's phone rang from the coffee table in front of her.  
"Mr Bruce" she greeted, looking over at Natasha. "Yeah, hold on" she said as she threw the phone over to her.  
"Sorry gotta go kids, I've got a hot date." Natasha said as she handed the phone back to Dani and sauntered out of the door.  
"Just you and me then" she said with a smile to Vision "Watching another?"  
"I have no plans. Unless you'd like me to leave?" he replied, unsure.  
"No, stay, we hardly ever get to hang out any more."  
They decided to start watching Firefly, agreeing that they'd get together to watch an episode once a week when they both had time. They didn't watch much of it through their chatting. After the second episode had finished and a few stifled yawns from Dani, Vision decided it was time for him to take his leave and let her  
get some rest.

"I'll walk you out" she said both standing up in sync. He turned to say goodbye as his hand rested on the door handle.  
"Thank you for Lola, I still can't believe you did that for me." She said as she stretched up to hug him, one arm around his shoulder and her other  
hand resting on the back of his neck.  
"I'm glad you like her" he said returning her hug.  
She slowly let go of the embrace, unconsciously keeping her hand on the back of his neck as she moved her head away from it's place on his shoulder.  
Her cheek grazed his as they parted and she felt him lean his face towards hers, ever so slightly.  
They stopped their movements when they realised they were now agonisingly close, their faces an inch apart as Dani's heart began to pound and her breathing began to noticeably increase.  
She stared in to his eyes, an innocent look on her face as she swallowed hard, trying to rid herself of the lump in her throat.  
Her lips pursed together momentarily as his glance darted between her huge blue eyes and her slightly parted lips.  
He looked unsure. Did she want this? Was Wanda right or were they both misreading signals?  
He didn't want to think about it any more, he'd been aching to kiss her ever since they first met.

He brought his face towards hers a fraction more, the sides of their noses now touching and their lips a millimetre apart, their eyes still locked.  
"For god's sake, just kiss me." She whispered, with pleading eyes, her voice shaking. She couldn't pretend any longer that she didn't want him.  
He gently pressed his lips to hers as her eyes closed, a long and gentle, lingering kiss.  
His hand moved up her back, finding it's place in her hair at the back of her head while the other slowly drifted down her side, over her hip.  
Dani titled her head slightly to deepen the kiss as she ran both hands up his firm chest and around his broad shoulders.  
He bent further down, still kissing her, now more passionately as their breathing became louder and messy, he wrapped his forearm behind her,  
around the tops of her thighs and lifted her up into him with one arm, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist.  
He turned, pressing Dani's back against the wall by door, even being lifted up she still had to tilt her head upwards to meet his lips.  
She brought her hands from his shoulders towards his face, placing them on either of his cheeks as she stopped the kiss to breathe, her forehead  
resting on his, gazing in to his eyes with an anxious expression.

"We don't have to do this." he whispered to her, noticing the look on her face.  
She didn't say anything back, she hungrily pressed her lips to his with her back still against the wall.  
The tips of their tongues met and danced as Dani let out a small whimper.  
He took her hands from his face, gripping both of her delicate wrists with one hand and pressing them against the wall above her head, never breaking the kiss.  
"Bedroom" she whispered, out of breath in between kisses.  
He carried her towards the bed, her legs still locked around him as she planted soft kisses up and down his neck as he walked.

He stopped when he felt his legs touch the end of the bed, wrapping one arm around her back and the other hand cradling the back of her head as he gently, slowly lowered her down on to it kissing her softly.  
Dani propped herself up on her elbows as she moved backwards up the bed, allowing Vision to follow on his hand and knees, his hands on the sheets either side of her and his legs between hers.  
She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down towards her in a soft, passionate kiss as she laid her head back on to the pillows.  
He stopped himself from putting his full weight on Dani by propping himself up on one elbow by the side of her, his hand cupping her cheek.  
His finger tips on his free hand traced lines downwards over her ribs and down to her waist before he reached the hem of her t-shirt.  
He broke the kiss to look down in to Dani's eyes and she signalled him to carry on by arching her back off of the bed, giving him easier access to slide the shirt up above her breasts, the palms of his hands running up her sides as he did, revealing a white bra adorned with black lace. She lifted her shoulders off of the pillows, crossing her arms over her chest to grab the bottom of her shirt, pulling it off over her head and tossing it on to the floor.

She reached her hands behind her back, unclasping her bra as Vision hooked a finger underneath one of the thin straps over her shoulder, slowly lowering it down her arm, allowing her to slide her hand out of it and discarding it as she did with her shirt.  
He began slowly kissing her jaw, running from her chin along to just below her ear as she ran her hands over his shoulders, now noticing that the metal collar of his cape and the fabric usually covering his body was no longer there.  
She traced her hands slowly over his muscular chest as he leaned over her, revelling in the the contrast between his warm, soft skin and the hard, cold vibranium that lined his shoulders and pecs.  
He worked his kisses lower, down to side of her neck just above her shoulder, listening to the way her breathing increased as she now ran her hands over  
his back, taking a mental note of every inch of his perfect, ripped body.  
He continued kissing down her body, down the centre of her chest and down past her navel while cupping each of her pert, milky breasts in his large hands, gently running his thumbs over her erect nipples, taking in every small whimper and groan than she made as her hands gripped the sheets either side of her hips.

He stopped his trail of kisses to sit up slightly when he reached the band of her jeans, unbuttoning them and agonisingly slowly pulling them down her legs along with her black and white panties. She lifted her head from the pillows, biting her lip as she watched him admiring every inch of her as he finally pulled them off of her feet, placing tiny kisses on the outside of her ankle as he threw the jeans behind him making a soft thud as they hit the floor.  
She laid back again, closing her eyes as a small smile spread across her lips, concentrating on feeling every tiny kiss he placed as he worked his way back up her legs.  
As his lips reached her pelvis, the placed her fingers under his chin, guiding his eyes up to meet hers.  
She entwined the fingers on her free hand with his, gently pulling him back up the bed towards her as she manoeuvred one of her legs underneath his body as he moved.

  
He placed a kiss on her forehead when he reached her before leaning back and locking eyes with her as he gently brushed the stray hairs away from her face, looking down at her the same way she looked up at the stars weeks before, astounded by how beautiful she looked in this moment.  
She bit her bottom lip again as she lifted her knees up, the insides of her thighs now pressed either side of him against his hips.  
He lowered his body onto hers, wrapping an arm underneath her shoulder as he placed a hand between her head and the pillow, lifting her head slightly and kissing her deeply.  
Dani wrapped one of her legs around his waist as she playfully bit his bottom lip, eliciting the first moan she'd heard from him, making her heart skip a beat.  
He pulled away to look in her eyes, their faces barely touching as he slid a hand under the small of her back, lifting her hips a few inches off the bed, the other hand tangled in her hair as he lowered his hips to hers.

She gazed back at him, her eyes flicking left to right between his before slightly digging her nails in to his back while she pressed her lips together letting out a long, quiet moan as she felt him entering her.  
He guided himself in to her impossibly slowly, never tearing his eyes away from her as he watched her chest heave up and down as she closed her eyes and dug her nails harder in to his back.  
He stopped as he filled her completely, taking her hands and placing them by their sides and tangling his fingers with hers as he pulled out again, faster  than he'd entered, before sliding back in to her, grinding himself against her clit as she wrapped both of her legs around him and lifted her head off of the bed to gently bite down on his shoulder to stop herself from screaming out.  
He quickened his pace, adoring the way she was biting at his shoulder and the feel of her soft, glistening skin against his as his chest rubbed against her breasts.  
Dani teased her fingers out of his and ran them roughly down his back, stopping and gripping his ass to pull him in closer to her, grinding and bucking her hips against his as he now wrapped both of his arms around her shoulders, their breathing becoming heavier with each thrust.  
She couldn't hold it in any longer, Vision heard her small moans becoming louder with each movement, her body began to tense underneath his and her hands began to tremble as she felt her body heat up and her stomach begin to knot.  
Her moans spurred him to go faster and grind harder against her as their lips crashed together, her grip on his ass getting harder to make sure he couldn't pull away.  
She broke the kiss suddenly, her head dropping back on to the pillow, her eyes closed as she arched her back and let out a  
scream. Her toes and fingers went numb as she tightened around him pulsating, causing him to let out a deep groan as he thrust in to her forcefully  
a few last times as he let himself go, pressing his lips to hers.

He gently rolled off of Dani, laying by the side of her, lifting her leg up to wrap it over his as he pulled her into him, laying her head on his arm across the pillows and wrapping the other around her her body.  
She laid there silently for a while with a contented smile, tracing her fingers softly over every tiny detail of the skin, lines and vibranium on his face, following the actions of her fingers with her eyes, admiring the work that had gone in to making him so perfectly beautiful to her.

"Your brother will not be pleased." Vision suddenly blurted out with a with a serious expression before cracking a huge smile.  
Dani's mouth dropped open in shock for a moment before slapping him playfully on the chest. "He won't find out about it, you destroyer of moments." She joked as she pulled the sheets that were draped around their waists up to her shoulders, taking care to pull them over him too.  
"May I ask you something?" he questioned as took her hand in his, bringing it to his chest.  
"Mhmm" She responded as she tried to yawn with her mouth closed.  
"Was that.. Was it.. Okay?"  
"Was is okay? Let's just say Thor isn't the only god around here" she reassured him in a tired voice, nestling herself in under the crook of his arm.  
"I don't understand."  
"It was perfect" she managed to whisper as she drifted off in to a deep sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

"Good morning" Dani heard in a whisper in her barely awake state.  
Vision watched her intently, laying by the side of her as she began to smile and let out a little hum.  
She slowly opened one eye and her smile grew wider as she saw him laying facing her with his head on the pillow and and admiring look on his face.  
"Did you stay here?" She asked as she pulled the blankets up the her neck and shuffled over to lay her head on his chest and close her eyes again.  
"I did."  
"What did you do all night?"  
"I slept for a while, I watched you sleep. You were dreaming."  
"You slept?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and readjusting herself so she was now resting her chin on his chest, looking up in to his eyes.  
"Yes, I found it.. refreshing."  
"Well, if you don't mind, can we hook you up tonight and find out what's going on in that enormous brain of yours when you sleep?"  
"Of course" he said with a smile, planting a kiss on top of her head.  
He hadn't slept before. It was something he could do, but not sometihng he needed. His mind and body didn't tire like a human's.   
"I need a shower" she said with a groan as she sat up with her legs hanging over the side of the bed, facing away from him holding her side of the covers  
up over her chest.  
She felt the mattress dip behind her before she felt his hands gently running over her skin on her sides before wrapping around her waist and   
soft kisses trailed down the back of her neck.  
"If you start that, i'll never get to work" she whispered with a shaky breath.  
He left one more long, gentle kiss behind her ear before climbing out of the opposite side of the bed and walking around to bend down and kiss her passionately on the lips. "You get in the shower, I'll make breakfast and feed Lola" he told her before heading out of the room.  
"Tease" she mumbled to herself with closed eyes before pulling on her t shirt left on the floor the night before and pair of girl boxers.  
She stopped as she left the bedroom, seeing Vision crouched on the floor next to little Lola as she was flapping away at her breakfast with her tiny teeth, spilling it over the slate tiles. She tilted her head to the side and smiled as she thought to herself _"I could get used to this."_

She emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel to see Lola curled up on the sofa and a plate of toast next to a cup of tea on the table.  
"Well then" she said to herself, a little disappointed to find Vision now gone.  
Dressed and fed, Dani was now heading to work. Shutting her door after giving her sleeping puppy a kiss she heard Natasha closing her front door next to Dani's.  
"Hey" she heard from the the refreshed looking redhead by her side.  
"Morning" Dani chirped back, hoping not to sound too cheery. Natasha was second to none at reading body language and if Dani was anything other than perfectly normal she'd know something was up.  
"Good night was it?" She asked Dani.  
"Yeah, was okay. We started Firefly after you left, watched a couple of episodes."  
"Not what I meant." Natasha said with a sly smile.  
"What did you mean?" Dani asked in the best clueless voice she could manage. _"She knows nothing, she's just fucking with you"_ she thought to herself.  
Natasha was now leaning against the door with her arms folded across her chest and an eyebrow raised.  
"What?" Dani squeaked trying not to laugh.  
"Did you forget your bedroom and my lounge are separated by a.. Single.. Wall?"  
Dani's eyes grew wider as she stared at Natasha, her cheeks burning and heart pounding.  
Natasha lelt out the laugh she was holding in at the sight of Dani looking like a deer in the headlights.  
"Calm down, I'll take it to the grave." She said as she walked past her, obviously very pleased with herself "but I want details" she called back from down the corridor before turning a corner to head to the gym.  
Dani was happy with that. If Natasha says she'll take something to the grave it isn't a figure of speech.

Dani arrived in the lab to Bruce, as always, already hard at work and Vision next to him discussing the mind stone.  
"Okay, sweetie, you ready?" she heard as a woman appeared from the side room that housed various high tech medical equipment, where  
Dani has used the MRI scanner a few days prior.  
She was slim, almost a foot taller than Dani and she guessed around two or three years older.   
Her deep brown hair was tied in a bun at the back of her head with a few sections framing her face with thin glasses perched on her nose above her pouty lips,   
framing her deep drown eyes.  
"Oh, Dani." Bruce said stepping out from behind his screen. "This is Erica. We used to work together, she's been bugging Tony about running some tests on the stone. He caved" he said with a slight laugh.  
"And Dani's the last to know again." She said, smiling at the woman. _"Why is everyone here so good looking?"_ she thought to herself, feeling a slight  
twinge of jealousy.  
"It's so good to meet you." The woman said in a slow, squeaky voice as she crouched down a little, looking at Dani.  
 _"I'm short, I'm not a fucking child."_ Dani thought, feeling slightly offended.   
"I've heard so much about you, you're quite the genius! Psychology, robotics, bio-medics. Is there anything you can't do?" she asked, still in her patronising tone.  
"ADVANCED robotics and Bio-mechanical engineering." Dani corrected her as she walked forward, shaking her hand.  
"I've been trying to get my hands on Loki's sceptre for forever." She said to Dani "I can't believe the stone was inside it, that's incredible.."   
"Yeah, pretty cool." Dani said, not in the mood to converse with Miss Patronising "Right I'm gonna get started. Vision, you're with me for this morning"   
She called over, trying to sound as casual as possible as she brought up a screen with a flick of her hand.  
"Actually.." Erica interrupted "..would you mind if I borrowed him for an hour or two?"  
She took a deep breath in, glancing over at Vision who was stood by her side "Yeah, crack on. Just let me know when you're done" she said,  
faking a cheery smile to hide her annoyance at this surprise guest messing up her schedule.

Half an hour later Dani had finished running over her files from her first psych evaluation with Vision, reminding herself before she performed a follow-up that she had planned for this morning.  
She heard a loud cackle for the fifth time coming from the side room as she closed the file. Glancing up to have a nose through the window that separated it from the lab she saw Erica standing with one had on her hip and the other on Vision's chest, her head thrown back as she was laughing unnecessarily loudly.  
Dani raised an eyebrow and looked over to Bruce who was seemingly unaware of the noise.  
"I'm gonna grab a coffee. You want anything?" she called over.  
"Coffee sounds good" he replied, still glued to his screen.  
"Need to get the fuck out of here" she whispered to herself shaking her head slightly as she headed for the door.

She returned with a cup in either hand, placing them down next to Bruce before bending over and leaning her elbows on the table next to him, propping her head up on her hands.   
"Whatcha doin'?" she asked, feeling a bit bored and very impatient.  
"You don't like her do you?" Bruce asked, peering over his glasses to Dani at his side.  
"What makes you say that?" _"Am I that that transparent?"_ she wondered.  
"'Pretty cool'" Bruce mocked Dani in a voice that sounded nothing like her.  
Just then she heard the woman's awful laugh again.  
"Seriously!? What is she even laughing at? He's really not that funny." She said as she trudged back over to her own table.  
"You don't have to be jealous." Bruce told her with a chuckle.  
"I'm not jealous. Who's jealous?" Dani defended herself.  
"You're only a little annoying when you're drunk. She's really annoying.. All the damn time." This earned a smile from Dani as Vision and Erica walked through the door  
back in to lab.  
"What are we talking about?" Erica interrupted, clearly not one to be left out of anything.  
"Actuators" Bruce offered of as he winked over at Dani.  
"Oh I don't know anything about that" she said as she turned to vision, forcing out her irritating laugh and resting a hand on his arm.  
She noticed Vision's large smile as he looked at the woman. She was taken aback and a little upset by it. The only time she'd seen him smile like that was at her.  
"So what is it you actually do?" Dani asked her as she wondered what it was about Vision that seemed to attract these overly-handsy women.  
"Renewable energy. I assisted Tony in the early stages of the arc reactor and I was assistant to Professor Selvig on the tesseract project." she said proudly. "What contributions have YOU made to biomedics?" she asked Dani with a tilt of her and a forced smile.  
 _"Is she giving me attitude?"_ Dani asked herself in her head.  
"Bio-mechanical engineering" she corrected her again "and far too many for an assistant to fathom" she snapped back before tilting her head also and mimicking Erica's fake smile.  
"Okay!" Bruce interrupted leaping up from his chair, looking between the two women "Tony should be back soon, why don't I take you on the tour before he is and we can go meet with him after?" he asked Erica, placing a hand on her back to lead her out of the lab.  
"Nice to meet you!" Dani called out sarcastically as the door closed.  
"Like she thinks I wont slap that tonne of make up off her face" Dani said, shooting an evil look towards the door.

"That was.. Strange." Vision said, looking a Dani with a slight frown, clearly trying to process what just happened.  
"Was it?" Dani asked sarcastically, sounding a little short of patience.  
"You're upset" He told her.  
"No, I'm fine. Can we get started please now you're finished with whatever that was." She said waving a hand towards the side room, referring to Erica's flirting and his smiles rather than the research she was supposedly doing.  
"I've upset you" he said, unsure as to whether he was correct in his assumption.  
Dani looked at him before sighing and running a hand through her hair. She knew she was being unfair. He knew everything there was to know about anything that was worth knowing. But when it came to human body language he was clueless.  
"I'm sorry" she said stretching her leg under the table and pushing out the chair opposite with her foot for him to sit down "you haven't done anything wrong, it's her.. Or it's me. I'm not sure."  
He looked at her as he sat down with his lower eyelids raised, unconsciously signalling to Dani that he was thinking about what she'd said, trying to make sense of complex female emotions.  
"Just, after last night I really shouldn't have to feel like I'm in competition" she explained, trying to hide the fact that she was upset.   
"Competition?" He asked, not at all understanding what she was driving at.  
"In competition for you affections. She's been all over you all morning. I don't know if it meant to you what it meant to me but if you have to act like that with each other at least let me know I was an experiment for you before you move on to the next woman."  
"No!" He said, his voice slightly raised for the very fist time "you are not an experiment to me. I care for you, more than anyone. I have no feelings towards Erica."  
Dani's expression softened but he wanted to make sure she understood that she meant more to him that what she thought.  
"I searched for Jarvis' memories to find what information he saved about you. To learn more about you. I took your mind to see the stars because I wanted to see you smile. I don't know Erica and I don't want to know any more about her than her research."  
"I'm sorry" Dani said as she reached her hand across the table, wiggling her fingers as an invitation for him to take her hand "I didn't mean that, it's just.. This is all new to me" she said with a faint smile as she gestured towards him.  
"I can assure you it's new to me too" he reminded her, running his thumb gently over her knuckles.  
"Best get some work done then" she said feeling a great deal calmer as she picked up her pen and flicked to a clean page in her notebook.

...............

Dani was scribbling some notes as Vision watched her from across the table when Tony sauntered in to the lab.  
"Honey Badger." He greeted Dani with a nod.  
"Honey badger!?" Dani asked in a loud voice.  
"Yeah, little furry creatures. Viscous. Straight for the face!" He said, lunging towards Dani slightly.  
"I know what they are. Why am I a honey badger?"  
"Heard about your little run-in with Erica" he laughed.   
She scoffed "she was giving me attitude."  
"I know, I played Friday's dialogue recordings. Pretty funny. Just remind me not to poke you with a stick."  
She rolled her eyes with a breathy laugh before returning to her scribbling.

Just as she opened her mouth to continue her questioning an enormous bang erupted, shaking the windows, causing Dani to jump up with a scream.  
Vision and Tony turned sharply turned to look at each other, Tony with a questioning frown on his face before a second explosion, just as loud as the first.

"What the fuck is that?" Dani asked Tony.  
"Wait here." He ordered, pointing at Dani. "You're with me" he said, looking at Vision before the two men walked quickly out of the lab.  
"Friday, what's going on?" Dani asked.  
"Two explosions close to the East wall of the facility" Friday replied "Captain Rogers, Miss Romanoff, Miss Maximoff and Mr Wilson are also on their way to   
assess the situation. You should be safe here."

It was almost half an hour before Tony and Vision returned to the lab.  
"Well?" Dani asked as they entered the room.  
"Petrol bombs." Tony said, so blasé that it raised more questions than it had answered.  
"Why would someone be petrol bombing us?" She asked.  
"It's pretty regular" Tony began to explain "if it's not here it's the tower." He pulled his phone from his pocket, showing her a picture on his phone of the wall surrounding the facility with 'SAAI' sprayed on to the wall in huge red letters.  
"I don't get it" she said studying the picture.  
"Society Against Artificial Intelligence" Vision began to explain. "They disagree with Tony's work, my existence and, it would seem, your presence here."  
"My Presence? What the hell did I do?" Dani asked him.  
"They know you're here, they think we're gonna make more of.. Him" He said pointing to Vision.  
"How do they know I'm here? Why would they think we're making more? We can't make more."  
"They're long gone, twisty knickers, don't worry about it. You're surrounded by avengers" Tony reassured her.  
"I'm not worried about it. Like you said, I'm surrounded by avengers. How do you know they're pissed at me?"  
Tony pulled his phone back from his pocket showing her a second picture, this time with words sprayed across the gates.

_**Stark / Woods** _   
_**You're kill us all** _   
_**No more AI** _

"Scariest thing about that is the grammar" Tony said as he pointed to the clock on the wall "Isn't it about time you took a break?"  
"Yeah I need to go shopping. Can I borrow a car?" Dani asked him.  
"Take the R8" he said as he threw a set of keys at her.  
"Seriously!?" She asked with wide eyes, he was surely joking. She was always worried he loved that car more than he loved Pepper.  
"On second thoughts, give them back" he said pointing at the keys in her hand "I can't afford another one if you crash it."  
"You're a funny guy" she said incredulously as he opened the door to leave.

"I'm going to get some bits for Lola and I think you should come with me." She said, tuning to Vision.  
"Why?"  
"You don't have to, I just think it'll be good for you. You don't get out in to the big wide world much. You say you want to learn about people, the only way you're going to do that is to be around them in their environment. Up to you."  
"I think that would be a good idea." he said with a smile before gently placing a hand on her cheek and bending town to kiss her forehead.


	23. Chapter 23

Dani had parked up in an underground car park beneath the mall in the car she'd now decided she was going to steal from Tony if she ever got the chance.  
She looked over to Vision in the seat next to her with a smile "you ready for this?"  
"I'm ready" he said returning her smile.  
He'd been out a few times, most of those with the team on missions or the odd night out but nowhere with large crowds of people who hadn't been drinking, who were more likely to question what they were seeing or bad guys who were just there to shoot at him.  
She was a little concerned about how people would react although it wouldn't be the first time they were seeing him.  
He along with his fellow super heroes were big news. They were always trending on the internet, always on the news and there were no shortage of conspiracy theories surrounding him and Thor.  
She took a deep breath in as she locked the car to calm her thoughts before gesturing her head towards the elevator to lead up to the shops, Vision falling in step next to her as she walked.

The two were just leaving a pet store, Dani had just purchased a pink plush bed and purple collar with matching lead for Lola.  
She was impressed with his ability to ignore the sideways glances and blatant staring from almost everyone they passed.  
She hadn't counted on how much it would irritate her though.  
_"Why do they think it's okay to stare?"_ she wondered to herself _"they wouldn't do it to disabled people, people with different coloured skin, people with_ _deformities"_ she could feel herself getting a little wound up. She tried to see it from their point of view. He was something that had never existed on  this earth before but while the children looked at him with nothing but fascination and awe the adults were looking with judgemental eyes, some of them even pulling their children close to them as he walked by. She understood it was natural for them to be afraid of what they didn't understand. But they didn't know him like she did.

Dani stopped next to a fountain surrounded by seats to readjust her sock that had folded underneath her foot inside her knee-high boot.  
She placed her bag on the seat before sitting down to correct her wardrobe malfunction when she saw a flash by the side of her, not too far away.  
She looked up to see a group of seven or eight teenagers, two of which were at the front of the group with their camera phones pointed at the pair of them while the rest, she could see were pleading with them to put their phones away with terrified looks on their faces.  
She glared at them as she stood back up collecting her bag noticing that Vision was still taking it all in his stride, just standing there waiting for her.  
"You okay?" She asked him. His expressions were never he easiest to read and while he currently had none she felt she should check.  
"These people are afraid of me" he said with a slight frown.  
"Some are" she said, she didn't want to lie to him, it was pretty obvious he was right.  
"Are you?" he asked.  
"Where the hell did that come from?" she asked, screwing her face up slightly.  
"I hear them talking, they think I'm a threat, they think I'll harm them. Do you?"  
"Look" she said placing the handle of her shopping bag around her wrist and taking his hands, standing in front of him "you're going to see a thousand different looks on my face.. You probably already have. But you will never see fear, I can promise you that. Now let's give them something to talk about."  
She reached a hand up around the back of his neck, pulling him down gently in to a long, soft, lingering kiss. Him wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her body in to his.  
She opened her eyes and looked up him with a huge smile before glancing to the side to see people stopped in their tracks staring at them in shock.  
"Ready to go home?" she asked with a smug smile as she moved herself to stand at his side, entwining her delicate fingers in to his large, strong hand.  
As they walked past the teenagers who were now standing with a gormless looks on their faces Dani glared at them. As she got within a few feet of them, she suddenly and quickly thrust her face out towards them, making them jump back in shock, one of them even screaming like a little girl as she startled him so  much he fell backwards on to the floor.  
This didn't go unnoticed by Vision who let out a barely audible laugh as he squeezed Dani's hand gently "You are wonderful." He said, amused and admiring her apparent lack of giving a shit what people thought of her.

 

...................

 

"It's just in our nature" Dani explained as they neared the path that lead to the facility gates in Tony's R8, Vision now driving.  
"We fear what we don't understand and what we can't control. We fear things more powerful than we are. Bearing in mind you alone hold more information and are more intelligent than every human being on this planet combined, that must be terrifying. As for that stone, none of us are even going to pretend to begin to comprehend what it's capable of."  
"But you think differently." he said, hoping she'd explain why.  
"Because I know you. I know you as a person, not as a weapon or a machine or whatever else they think you are. I've spent my whole life dreaming of creating or meeting something, sorry, someone like you and here you are. I'm not going to waste my life's ambition on being afraid of you."  
"Am I an experiment to you?" he asked, now wondering if her earlier question to him was really a manifestation of how she thought about him.  
"God no! You were before I knew you, that's why I came here. But I got to know you, I fell in I.."  
Dani stopped mid sentence as they approached the gate, seeing at least six felled trees on top of each other now blocking the gate with the painted message still across it.  
"Weird." She said, looking over at Vision. "Why are there trees there?"  
"I would assume to stop people from entering or leaving." Vision replied with the most likely explanation.  
"Because that's totally hulk-proof" she laughed "those AI society people again?" she asked.  
"Possibly" he said, frowning whilst looking out of each of the windows.  
"Stay here" he ordered, opening the door and closing it behind him.

She sat in the car as she was told, watching him walking up to the woods that lined either side of the path and stopping, staring in to the trees.  
She opened her door and stepped out, peering over the roof of the car and calling to him "what is it?"  
"I don't see anything" he said, walking towards the gate to start moving the trees out of the way.  
Dani leaned on the car biting her lip, watching his muscles tense as he moved each tree with ease and placing them by the side of the path.  
"Need a hand?" she joked, knowing full well she didn't have a chance of moving them the slightest bit.  
He looked over to her and laughed, shaking his head as he dropped the last one out of the way.  
She adored seeing him laugh, and loved how it was happening more with ever day he spent with her.  
He walked back over to the car, locking eyes with her, taking in her beautiful smile over the roof as he reached for the handle.

There were two thuds that came suddenly from behind Dani, he tore his gaze away from her to look in to the trees behind her seeing a flock of birds emerge from the canopy. He looked back at her to see the smile had now been replaced by a look of confusion.  
"What's wrong?" he asked her.  
Her face became expressionless and pale in an instant before she dropped to the floor beside the car out of his view without uttering a single word.


	24. Chapter 24

Vision had used his mind and internal internet link to override Friday to alert the medical staff in the med bay and the rest of the team.  
Natasha and Steve were the first to rush out of the building to see Vision running in with Dani in his arms, blood dripping from her head and  
fingertips with more blood trailing down Vision's leg and patches of red over his chest.  
"What happened?!" Natasha screamed as she froze seeing her unconscious friend in his arms.  
"She's been shot. She isn't breathing" he told her, the panic written all over his face. He didn't stop to explain any further, he knew time was of the essence,  
he had to get her to the doctor. Fast.  
Steve ran in front of Vision to open the doors on the way, leaving Natasha standing in the front doorway to the facility still trying to process what was happening.  
Wanda had arrived at the med bay just as Vision was laying Dani on to a bed as she was suddenly being surrounded by doctors, nurses and surgeons.

"You need to let us work." The surgeon told the three of them as he pulled a surgical mask over his face.  
"Is she going to be okay?" Wanda asked with tears in her eyes.  
"Please" the man insisted lifting his arms up at this sides and taking a small step towards them to signal them to vacate the room "I'll give you an update as soon as I have one." He wasted no more time, tuning back towards Dani to take over the CPR from the nurse.  
Steve wrapped an arm around Wanda, leading her out of the room as the surgeon had asked. Vision stood for a moment, expressionless watching as the surgeon pushed down rhythmically on her chest while a woman pressed down on the bag valve mask over Dani's mouth and nose while other's plunged needles in to her arms and one in to her chest.  
He felt a hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him backwards out of the room "she's in good hands" he heard Steve's voice from behind him  
"C'mon."

Six hours had passed with no word on Dani's condition. The rest of the team had arrived and were in an disused room a few meters from Dani in the operating theatre.   
Natasha was sitting on the floor against the wall with Bruce by her side, an arm around her shoulders as she stared vacantly.   
Steve was sitting on a chair opposite, leaning his forearms on his legs, tapping a foot impatiently on the floor with Wanda next to him, biting her nails with light grey trails down her cheek from where her tears had taken her make up with them.  
Sam was standing, leaning against the wall next the door while Tony was pacing up and down anxiously in the centre of the room.  
They hadn't shared a word between them since Vision had told them what had happened until Steve suddenly spoke.  
"You know everything" he said looking up at Vision who was seated at the back of the room with his head in his hands "how could you not see that coming?"  
"I can't see in to the future, Steve" he whispered now looking up at him.  
"You must have known something was going on" Steve accused.  
"I looked, I checked, there was nothing there to be seen." Vision said, raising his voice slightly for the second time that day.  
"What about this!?" Tony interrupted. "It's all over the internet." He threw his phone on to Vision's lap with an image of him kissing Dani in the mall earlier on.  
Vision picked the phone up, staring at the image on the screen as Tony continued "how are you this stupid?! he said viciously. "Those people want you dead and you pull this shit?!"

"This is just as much your fault!" Wanda interrupted them, losing her temper with their bickering "you gave her the car to go out. None of us saw this coming! After the attack this morning you should have been more careful, we all should. We all knew they wanted to stop her, she shouldn't have gone outside. This is on all of us."  
Natasha's eyes were now filling with tears as she silently nodded in agreement with Wanda.

"I'm going to check on her dog." Natasha said standing up, holding back her tears to sound as strong as she always did.  
As she reached the door, it opened slowly towards her as the man that had earlier been attempting to resuscitate Dani entered.  
"She's stable" he said, looking exhausted, wiping his wet hands over his scrubs "but she's still critical, she's lost a lot of blood."  
He walked in to the room and took a seat next to Vision, looking around at them all before continuing.  
"She's in a coma. One of the bullets were lodged in the temporal lobe and the other one entered through her back and left through her abdomen. It went straight  
through a kidney, we had to remove it."  
"Temporal lobe?" Steve asked.  
"It's a vital part of the brain, it processes sensory input from hearing to sense of smell, memories, facial recognition, speech.."  
"Will she wake up?" Wanda whispered.  
"I can't say. She's breathing on her own, which is promising given the swelling on her brain but she's struggling. We've put her on a respirator to take over breathing for her. If she wakes up there's every chance she won't know who she is or who you are. She may have no hearing, no sense of smell, she may not be able to speak. There's just no way of knowing until she does. But what we need to be concerned about right now is infection. She'll be closely monitored and I'll let you know if anything changes."  
"Can I see her?" Bruce asked, standing up from the floor, taking Natasha's hand.  
"Of course, follow me" the man said with a friendly smile.  
Bruce looked around the room at the shocked, tearful faces. "Go ahead" Tony said with a nod, I'll see her when you're finished.

The surgeon held the door open to Dani's room, standing aside to let Natasha enter, followed by Bruce.  
She paused for a moment as she saw her friend laying there surrounded by machines, tubes extending from her arms attached to bags of blood and fluid above her. A tube was down her throat attached by a wide pipe to a machine on her left, one side of her hair was shaved with a long, stapled incision from behind her head stretching around to her temple.  
She walked to Dani's side, standing over her as Bruce took one of Dani's hands in his.  
"Hey beautiful" she said with tears in her eyes "I don't know if you can hear me but I'm no good at this."  
Bruce looked at Natasha with a sad frown before taking over, knowing she struggled with expressing her emotions.  
"We're all here" he said giving Dani's hand a gentle squeeze "and we're not going anywhere until you wake up".  
"You're gonna be pissed when you see what they've done to your hair" Natasha said with a tearful smile.  
"I think Tony want's to see you" Bruce said to Dani as he took a small step back, looking at Natasha signalling her to leave with him and let the others say what they needed to.  
Natasha placed her hand on Dani's forehead, looking over her face before she quickly turned and left the room.  
"I'll see you soon" Bruce whispered before following after his woman.  
He popped his head in to the room where the guys were waiting on his way past, giving Tony a silent nod before heading away from the med bay.

"Hey Tinkerbell, you're being a bit dramatic" Tony joked as he sat next to Dani's bed, silently hoping she'd open her eyes and come back at him with her usual witty remarks.  
He waited a few second before letting out a sigh "I'm sorry. I made a mistake and I know when you wake up I'll never hear the end of it. So just open your eyes, insult me, punch me. Something."  
He sat for a long while, taking in her vacant delicate face, glancing over the scar on her head and the dried blood around the remainder of her hairline.  
"Come back to work soon." He finally whispered as he finally stood from his chair, gently squeezing her shoulder.

Steve and Wanda were waiting outside the room as Tony left, looking down at the floor. They didn't acknowledge each other as Tony walked by.  
It was now approaching midnight and everyone was drained. How could they sleep knowing the state she was in?  
Steve looked to Wanda, gesturing his head towards Dani's door "you first" he offered. She looked exhausted. He didn't need as much sleep as the rest of  
them and given the late hour he'd rather let Wanda take some time with their friend and attempt to get some rest.

"I love you so much" she told Dani as she gently propped herself next to her on the bed, combing her fingers through Dani's hair as she let the seemingly  
never ending tears roll down her cheeks.  
"You need to stop this. You need to wake up. It's going to be too quiet without you. You reminded me it's okay to laugh and you'll never know how much you've  
helped me since you've been here. I'll always be grateful for you. We all adore you and we need you back. I'll take care of Lola until you're better.   
She needs her Mummy so just come back to us okay?"  
She couldn't handle looking at her any longer, she left the room and threw herself in to Steve's arms, sobbing loudly, gripping on to his shirt as she stained  
it with her tears. He held her tightly before whispering to her "she'll wake up. She has to."  
Steve walked Wanda back to her room, telling her to get some rest before he headed back to the med bay to visit Dani.

"Hey buddy" Steve began sitting with Dani's hand held between both of his, gently running his thumb in circles over her palm.  
"I heard people in comas can still hear what's going on around them. I don't know if it's true but it's worth a try."  
He glanced at the machines around Dani, trying to make sense of something, anything on them.  
"We'll find who did this, I promise. And I really hope you're awake to see it when we do. I'm sorry I haven't got to spend more time with you this time but when you're on the mend we'll go back to Coney Island, you can drag me on to the roller coasters as much as you want. I'll try not to throw up this time."  
He said with a smile.  
"I think everyone's trying to get some rest, Lola's staying with Wanda. She's gonna come and see you in the morning. Stay strong okay?"  
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before heading in to the Room where Vision was still sitting silently. He hadn't moved since they got the news  
from the surgeon. His only words were to discuss with Wanda what should happen to Lola until, if ever, Dani comes to.

Vision looked up as the door opened to reveal Steve standing in the doorway "you going in?" He asked.  
Vision nodded as he stood from his seat,  
"Hey, I'm sorry" Steve said as Vision walked past him out of the door "I know you couldn't see this coming, I know you care about her. We all do."  
"I never intended for her to get hurt. That's the last thing I ever wanted." He said, looking back at Steve.  
"I know." Steve said with an apologetic smile "Go on, might do her some good to hear your voice."


	25. Chapter 25

It had been three weeks since the shooting and Dani was still 'asleep'.

The avengers carried on as best they could. Bruce and Tony were now working on an arc reactor to get the facility off the grid.  
Steve, Sam and Natasha we following leads in to finding Dani's shooters. Wanda and Rhodey continued their training in between assisting the other three.  
Clint had been back twice, staying for a few days each time to spend some time talking to Dani and attempt to keep the other's spirits up.  
They all visited Dani as often as they could. Natasha and Wanda spent every Friday night in the hospital room watching films with her on their laptops. They hoped she was aware of what they were doing so she'd know she was missed and they certainly hadn't given up hope.  
But Vision, he'd hardly left her side. Besides essential reasons for leaving that room he'd promised he'd be right there and until the moment she opened her eyes.  
Tony had called Dani's family the night it happened and they were on a plane the very next morning. He arranged for them to stay in a hotel not too far away and have them collected by unmarked cars with blacked out windows when they wanted to see Dani. The team had decided it was safer for Dani and her family if the SAAI thought she was dead. Visible visits by family member would prove that she wasn't, so it had to be kept secret.  
They stayed for two weeks before they had to return home to their jobs. They had suggested several times that Dani should go back to London to be near her family where they could take care of her. Tony and her doctors insisted she stay where she was. There were among the highest in their respective fields and she wouldn't find better care in a public hospital.   
Vision stayed out of their way when they were with Dani.   
They were aware of him, the entire world had seen the pictures of the two together the day she was shot. He wasn't afraid to face them but they were going through enough without having to try to understand their relationship, if that's what it was. She could talk to them herself when she was ready. It wasn't his place.

Vision was by sitting in his now regular spot in the chair by Dani's side, his head resting in the pillow next to her head with his eyes closed talking to her about the evening he took her to see the stars.  
".. and you were terrified when you realised where I'd taken you."  
His suddenly sat upright looking at Dani with clarity. "It could work" he thought to himself.   
He gently kissed the tip of her nose before sitting back and placing a hand across her forehead, closing his eyes.

"What the fuck?!" Dani screamed, clinging to Vision the way she had the first time he temporarily hijacked her mind.  
"Are you doing this to me again?!" she squealed.  
"Calm down and look up." He told her firmly.  
She stopped her complaining and looked around her, her smile beginning to widen as she realised she was exactly where he'd taken her the night of Tony's party.  
"A little warning would have been nice" she said with a laugh.  
"I'm sorry" he said, so sincerely that she began to wonder what exactly he was apologising for.  
"What's going on? You were moving the trees. There was a bang..."  
"Shh" he placated her, gently placing a hand to the back of her head and looking deep in to her eyes "you're dreaming."  
"Why are you in my dream?" she asked, smiling.  
"Well, we have just spent the night together. Your subconscious mind is just working through the events of the night."  
"Just? We went shopping, there was that bloody Erica. The petrol bombs."  
He tilted his head and feigned a look of confusion "I think that was a dream too."  
"Shit dream then. But it's nice to see you here!" she said with a big toothy grin before pressing a huge kiss to his cheek.  
He didn't want to tell her what had really happened, that this wasn't a dream. She'd panic. He needed her to stay calm and think.

"I need to tell you something" he said as he placed two fingers under her chin to keep eye contact with her.  
"Oh god, you've got herpes haven't you!" she said raising her voice with a smile.  
"I.. No.. That would only be poss.." he began to defend himself before Dani butted in.  
"I was joking! Dream you is worse at this than real you." She said rolling her eyes.  
"Please listen to me" he pleaded with her before kissing her softly, passionately.  
"Now you have my full attention" she whispered to him with her eyes still closed, a soft smile on her lips.  
"I miss you" he though to himself as he cherished the little time he had to talk to her for the first time in weeks.

"I should have told you this days ago. Maybe things would be different. I don't know."  
Dani was now looking at him with concern etched across her face, worried about what he was going to say.  
"You are the most important person in the world to me. I haven't been here for long but I've been here long enough to know that you are the most beautiful creature I have and will ever lay eyes upon. You've taught me so much, you've been my friend and you make me feel complete. Like I belong.  
I thought I loved you but I wasn't sure. Wanda helped me to see it and now I know that I do. I love you." He confessed, Dani's eyes now filled with unshed tears as he gently placed his hand back over her forehead.  
"Now I need you to do one thing for me. I need you to wake up now. Please."

He gave her no time to respond, he was back in the room, looking down at the woman he loved being assisted by machines to breathe.  
He watched her expectantly.  
"How is she?" he heard from behind him, turning to see Tony quietly closing the door.  
"There's been no change" he replied "the doctors have said the swelling in her brain has gone but she's still unresponsive."  
"You need to get out of here for a bit" Tony told him "it's not healthy."  
"I made her a promise." Vision said, refusing Tony's advice and turning back to Dani.  
"She's not going to hold it against you and you're gonna be no use to her if you've lost it when she wakes up. Go take a walk, fly, run, whatever it is you do and clear your head. I'll be with her and if I'm not, someone else will be."

"I should be here." He again refused.

"You'll be here when she wakes up. Now go, seriously, take a day. It's been three weeks and I'd guess that maybe she's staying there because she knows she's got to wake up to that" he said pointing at Vision's face in an attempt to lighten the mood.  
He sighed, looking down at the floor, he knew Tony was right. He'd hoped that if his plan worked she'd be awake by now. The likelihood of her coming  
around in the small amount of time he would be away was next to none.  
"I'll be back soon. Please stay with her" he asked Tony, as looked down at Dani.  
"Twenty four hours, I meant a day. You might be all amazing but if you can feel you can go insane. I don't want to see you back until tomorrow."  
Vision complied and left Tony with her. How was he supposed to clear his head? The one person he cared for more than anyone was fighting for her life  
and there was nothing he could do to help her.  
"You can thank me later." He said to Dani as he pulled the chair away from her bed slightly, taking a seat.  
"Black Sabbath?" he asked her, flicking through his phone to play her some music. "Yes Tony? Oh okay then." He knew she loved metal so it seemed only logical to him that it's something she'd want to listen to.

..............

  
Tony had spent the evening assaulting Dani's eardrums with her 'choice' of music before unwittingly falling asleep sitting upright in his chair.  
He awoke the following morning to the faint sound of beeping and footsteps of the medical staff shuffling around outside the door.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He heard a woman's voice from him side.  
He quickly turned his head in the direction of the voice to see a nurse standing by Dani's head. Crushingly disappointed to see the voice wasn't coming from the one person he hoped it was.  
He cleared his throat as he glanced over to Dani to see her still sleeping soundly.  
"Nope, you didn't." He said to the woman as he stretched his arms above his head and legs out in front of him.  
"I'll see you later pint size, I'll send Capsicle down." He yawned as he slowly getting up fro his chair, groaning at the slight pain is back.  
"Where's my bed? I'm too old for this shit." He complained under his breath as walked out the door.

He arrived in the common room in his search for Steve to find him eating breakfast with Wanda, Natasha, Sam and Bruce with little Lola chewing at  
Wanda's chair leg with a small but meaningful growl.  
"Where's Captain Scarlet?" he asked them, looking around the room, noticing Vision was nowhere to be seen.  
This earned a round of shrugs before Wanda offered a vague insight in to his whereabouts. "I haven't seen his since yesterday afternoon. He said  
he had to do something."  
"Someone took my advice!" Tony declared proudly "Oh and Rogers, you're up. I told him someone's gonna stay with Tinks 'til he get's back."  
Steve nodded with a mouthful of food before swallowing "I'll head down in a minute."


	26. Chapter 26

The team, minus Steve who was with Dani, Thor who was back in Asgard and Rhodey who was on deployment, were now in one of the facility's meeting rooms,  mapping out the surrounding woods, marking where they've already intensively searched for any clue that might lead them to Dani's would-be killers.  
Natasha was on a laptop seated at the end of the table, researching online, hacking in to Facebook accounts, police databases, anything that might give them a head start.

The door swung open with a thud, a man stumbled through it at speed before falling head-first to the floor.   
Vision followed behind, as calm and graceful as he always was. "I found him in the east portion of the woods. He was alone. With this."  
He said as placed an assembled Remmington Defence concealable sniper rifle on the table, looking up at Tony.  
Natasha was already up out of her seat, now on top of the man with his face pushed in to the floor, his arms twisted painfully behind his back, held in place with one of her knees as she removed the belt from her jeans.  
"Hold him." She ordered Vision nodding towards the man's hands.  
Vision held the man's wrists behind his back as Natasha wrapped the belt around them, obviously too tight but every move she made was always intentional.  
She yanked him up by one arm as his shoulders threatened to dislocated before she threw him in to the chair she was previously sitting on.  
"Who are you?" Wanda asked, slowly approaching the man.

He wasn't particularly tall in stature, unshaven and his short dark hair was greasy. His clothes were muddy and he looked like he could do with a meal and a   
good night's sleep.  
The man said nothing, just glaring in to Wanda's eyes.  
"You know who we are." Tony said, hoping to frighten him in to talking before things had to get a little more physical to get answers "why were you in the woods?"  
Clint walked towards the table, picking up the gun and checking the barrel was clear before handing it to Tony.  
"We've got this" he said "run forensics, see if it's the one."  
Tony had asked Dani's surgeon to keep the bullet they removed from her head in the chance that they'd ever find the gun it was fired from.  
"Start praying it's not." Tony scowled at the man before leaving the room.  
"Let's start again." Bruce said as he stood in front of the man, calm and reserved. "What were you doing in the woods?"  
The man stayed silent looking between the super heroes surrounding him with a small smirk.  
"You've already met our resident assassin" he said nodding towards Natasha.  
"He is more powerful than every man on this planet combined" he continued looking over to Vision.   
"I know what you are" the man finally spoke through gritted teeth glaring at Vision.  
Bruce now leaned forward, placing his hands on either arm of the chair, looking in to the man's face.  
"She will tear you apart from the inside." He told him as the man looked over to Wanda. "But I won't be so nice." He finally whispered.  
"Dude, we're here too!" Clint protested, nudging Sam's arm from his place leaning up against the table, earning a slight grin from Natasha.  
"Cap's not gonna like this." Natasha whispered in to Bruce's ear as she looked in to the man's eyes.  
"Take him down to the basement, this stays between us." Bruce said to the team as he took a step back from the man.  
Vision was the first to move, gripping his hand around the back of the man's neck, pushing him up from his seat towards Natasha and Bruce.  
Natasha took a step forward, throwing a fist in to the man's face with a crack before he instantly fell to the floor unconscious.

 

.......................................

 

The dishevelled man awoke tethered to a chair to see he was in a small room surrounded by freshly plastered walls, a fluorescent light hanging above his head.  
He saw Vision and Natasha were whispering in the corner through blurry eyes, his ears ringing and head pounding.  
The rest of the team had left it in their hands, Bruce went to help Tony and let him know where the man was being held and the rest returning  to their work to avoid suspicion if Steve returned. They knew he'd put a stop to it. Not because he didn't want revenge but he wouldn't see it as the right thing to do. The man should be handed over to the authorities for questioning. They knew that but he'd left their friend fighting for her life and they were doing to make damn sure that he paid for it.

"Start talking" Natasha ordered, walking towards the man and stopping in front of him with a hand behind her back.  
Nothing.  
"The woman you shot. She was everything to him. You can start talking or I can stop standing between you two." She said calmly.  
Vision stood behind Natasha, not saying a word as he stared the man in the face, emotionless. The less the man knew about what they were feeling, the better.  
It could be left to play on his subconscious. Natasha was the world's best interrogator, it was no secret. She'd break him.

"I didn't shoot anyone." He defended himself, now visibly shaking but trying to maintain his calm appearance.  
Natasha kicked past the man's head, landing her foot on the back of his chair, knocking it backwards and sending him crashing to floor.  
She stood over the man on his back who was coughing violently as she pulled a hand gun from the back of her jeans, cocking it with a perfect aim between his eyes.  
"You won't know anything if you kill me you dumb whore!" the man screamed at her.  
"Who said anything about killing you?" she smiled, tucking the gun back under her shirt.

"Get him up" she said to Vision.  
He walked to the man, towering over him before grabbing a handful of his hair, lifting him back up in to his seated position as the man screamed, trying to thrash his body beneath his restraints.  
Natasha pulled a rag from her back pocket as she walked towards the man. She smiled before stretching it between her hands in front of her face and jamming  
it in between his teeth, tying it tightly behind his head. "Do your worst" she said smiling up at Vision.  
"You want me to take his mind?" He asked her knowingly. It was a scare tactic, they knew that. But he didn't. They'd planned the whole thing while he was out  cold.   
The best chance they had way to pray on his fear of the AI by his side. They wanted a confession quickly and this was the best way to get it.  
Vision's feet silently lifted a few inches above the floor, gliding slowly around from the man's side before stopping in front of him.  
He frowned slightly before a small smile spread across his lips. The man looked back at him with wide eyes, shaking his head.   
Vision crouched down in front of the man, staring him in the eyes as he slowly reached both hands forward to place them on either side of the man's head.  
"I did it!" the man screamed, muffled by his gag. Vision stopped just shy of reaching him, standing and taking a step back.  
Natasha walked towards him quickly, thrusting a black combat knife at his face, cutting the the cloth from his mouth and his face in the process.  
"What?" she asked.  
The man's eyes flicked between his two captors as sweat dripped down his forehead.  
"I did it! I shot her! I missed him"" He shouted, forcing his eyes shut. He'd rather not see what he expected to come. "They made me do it!"  
"Who made you do it?" Vision asked him calmly.  
"The SAAI! You shouldn't exist! Her and Stark were playing God, they'll kill us all!"  
"You're already dead." Natasha smiled. 

Vision, lunged forward wrapping a powerful hand around the man's throat, lifting him in to air high above his head with the chair still attached.  
"She was innocent!" He shouted at the man, choking him, watching his lips turn blue. "She had no hand in my creation!"  
Natasha took a few steps back, he eyes locked on Vision. Nobody had seen him angry and it terrified her just as much as the man who was now struggling to breathe.   
He turned with a scowling face to see Natasha's look of terror, her gun drawn and pointing towards him.   
"You are in no danger, I assure you." He said with a eerie sense of calm.  
He turned back to man, squeezing his throat. With a loud snap his struggling and gagging stopped. 

The room fell silent. Vision's grip on the man loosened, sending him falling downwards with a loud crash as the chair smashed into pieces, flying accross the floor.  
His breathing was rapid as he stared down at the lifeless body.  
Natasha stared, her gun still drawn as she began to creep backwards towards the door.  
"I shouldn't have done that." He said, still looking the man.  
Natasha stopped in her tracks.  
"Hey" she whispered cautiously, with her hand now resting on the door handle, ready to run if she needed to.  
He turned back to her, a slight furrow in his brow. "I will not hurt you." He said sincerely.   
She slowly lowered her gun, trying to read his mood as she took a few slow steps towards him.  
"This is not what I was meant for." He said, looking confused.  
"We don't all live up to what we were meant for." Natasha said as she stood beside him looking down at the corpse he'd created. "Dani wasn't meant to be a target and I wasn't meant to be an avenger but here we are."  
He turned to look down at her, seemingly calmer as he took a deep breath in.  
They heard the door open behind them followed by Tony's voice. "It was him, It was his gun." He said before suddenly stopping with a quizzical look on his face, noticing the body on the floor.  
"We know." Natasha said as if it should be obvious, kicking a broken chair leg away from, her foot.  
"Rogers does not find out about this." He said sternly "We need to clear that up."


	27. Chapter 27

Steve was sat at the foot of Dani's bed talking to her about anything he could think of before his thoughts turned to what he really wanted to know.  
"I don't know what's going on with you two. Whether that picture was just you proving a point or if it's something more. I guess i'll ask you when you wake up.  
Natasha knows, I know she does. She's a tough nut to crack though. Maybe he can love you. Maybe i was wrong. I don't know."  
Steve flinched as the sudden sound of gagging filled his ears. His heart stopped as he realised the sound was coming from Dani, choking on the tube in her throat. Was she waking up?  
He jumped off of the bed, running to the door, standing half out of the room and shouting down the hall "Doc! Quick!"  
In an instant a man in blue scrubs threw a door open from the end of the hall with another man and woman in matching attire and ran towards her room.  
Steve watched from the door, giving the doctors room to work as they quickly but gently removed the ventilator causing Dani to gag and cough even harder.  
Her eyes remained closed and seemed incoherent as the doctors obsessed over readings on surrounding machines.  
One of the doctors were leaning over Dani, lifting her eyelids as he shone a light in to her eyes. He nodded to the others before holding on of Dani's hands.  
"Dani, can you hear me? Dani, you're in the hospital. Can you squeeze my hand to let me know you can hear me?"   
Steve watched with an intense gaze as Dani's fingers twitched before they grasped the doctor's hand gently.  
"Hello Dani" he said with a kind smile. "I need you to relax okay? You've been asleep for a while, take your time and breathe."  
Dani began to groan before thrashing an arm out, striking the nurse by her side in the leg.  
"Dani, you need to relax. You're safe, I'm Doctor Garin. I've been taking care of you." He looked over to Steve and beckoned him in to the room.  
"I think she needs a familiar voice." He said, stepping aside to let Steve take his place.  
"Don't over load her with information, just let her know you're there." He whispered to Steve as he neared Dani.  
Taking her hand gently in his and stroking her hair he noticed her face contorting. Pain? Confusion?  
"It's Steve." he said softly. "The doc needs you to try and calm down okay? I'm right here, just breathe, relax and take your time. I'm not going anywhere" he promised, tucking her knotted hair behind her ear.

A few moments had passed before Dani's pained expression and groans ceased.  
Her eyelids began to flicker, her eyes opened a crack before she closed them tightly again with another groan, squeezing Steve's hand tightly.  
"Lights" he said to the Doctor who rushed over to the switch and dimming the lights.  
"The lights are down now" Steve told her.  
Again her eyes flickered for a moment while Steve waited impatiently for her to open them.  
Slowly but surely, she opened her eyes, looking around the room confused before her gaze landed on Steve.  
"Hey buddy" he whispered as she looked at him with little expression.

"Do you know who that is?" The doctor asked her, pointing at Steve.  
She didn't say a word, she swallowed hard while screwing up her face. "Do you need some water?" Dani's nod was barely there but it confirmed she  
understood what the doctor was asking her.  
He walked to the small cupboard by the side of her bed, pouring a glass of water and sticking a straw in it before bringing it to Dani's mouth.  
"Very small sips" he told her, the last thing she needed right now was to vomit.  
She turned her head slightly to look back at Steve after she'd finished, now seeming a little more lucid.  
"Dani, do you know who that is?" The doctor asked again. "Steve" she said in a small, croaky voice.  
Steve face beamed as he squeezed her hand, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles.  
"Dani, do you know who you are?" He continued his questioning.  
"The clue was in the question." She retorted in a still laboured voice, raising an eyebrow.  
"There you are" Steve said with a soft laugh, unbelievably thankful that she was clearly still the Dani she was three weeks ago.  
"I'm going to sit you up a bit okay?" The doctor said as he bent over, raising the head of the bed so she was sitting in a reclined position. He pointed to a red button on the wall above Dani's head before explaining to Steve "I'll give you two a minute. If anything happens push that button and I'll be straight in."

"What happened?" She asked in a whisper, taking in her surroundings.  
"You got shot, buddy." He knew it was blunt but he didn't know how else to break it to her.  
She brought her hand up with a struggle to scratch the agonising itch at the side of her head. She recoiled taking a sharp breath in and wincing as she scratched the healing scar on her head that she didn't know she had. She looked to Steve with a questioining stare.  
"In the head, and your kidney took a bullet too. They had to remove it." He explained as he placed his other hand on top of the one he was holding.  
"How long have I been out?" she asked, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.  
"Three weeks"  
"Shit" she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Have you told my parents?"  
"Yeah, Stark called them they day it happened. They got here the next morning, they were here for two weeks."  
"They shaved my head didn't they?"  
"Just the side, don't worry. It's kinda cute." He assured her attempting anything to lighten the situation "It'll grow back if you concentrate hard enough."  
"How hard do I have to concentrate to grow a kidney?" she said with a strained smile.   
"Can't help you with that one I'm afraid" he returned her smile.  
"Where's Lola?"   
"She's staying with Wanda, she's fine."  
"Just one more question." she whispered.  
Steve nodded.  
"Who the fuck shot me?"  
"You've been through a lot so I'm gonna let that one go." He said with a smile, allowing her the language "Some anti-AI organisation. They were in the woods, they must have seen you leave the building and blocked the gates to they could get a shot at you when you got back. The guys are on it right now. You want me to let them know you're awake?"  
"Maybe when this has sunk in." She said. She needed a little while to process what she'd just been told.  
"Want me to give you some peace?" He asked.  
"No, stay" she pleaded "unless you need to go?"  
"I've got nothin' on." He smiled.

..............................

Dani had been awake for little three hours chatting with Steve, catching up what's been going on since she's been asleep.  
She was pleased to find out there had been no major crises she'd missed out on. She'd spent half of that hour on the phone to Joe and her parents assuring them, much to their dismay, that she wanted to stay where she was and carry on her work.  
The doctors has detached her from the machines and was now sipping on her first cup of tea in three weeks.  
"Steve, would you mind grabbing me some things from my room?" She asked, realising she had no clothes and desperately wanted to get out of the hideous white and mustard yellow hospital gown she was currently wearing.  
"Yeah, no problem." He offered.  
"You do realise you'll have to see my knickers!" She joked, with a shocked face, knowing how conservative he was.  
"I think a can manage" he said, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. "Just write a list of what you want and find it."

Skimming over the list in his hand, Steve was approaching Dani's quarters when he almost collided with Vision as they both turned the corner.  
"Woah! Sorry" He laughed as he halted himself.  
"It's fine" vision excused him with a small smile "How is Dani?"  
"Umm.. She's awake."  
His smile dropped as his stomach turned. "She's awake? Is she okay? Do the other's know?"  
"She's fine, she knows what happened, she's talking, giving the doctors trouble." He said with he placed a hand on Vision's shoulder.  
"The other's don't know, she wanted some time before I told them. She sent me to get some things." He told him, holding up the list.  
He frowned at Steve's response. Why wouldn't she want him to know she was awake? Does she blame him?  
"I need to see her." He said as he began to walk past the super soldier.  
Steve stopped him with a hand on his chest, taking a step towards him.  
"I don't know what happened between you two, it's none of my business. But she's one of us do you understand? I might not be able to kill you but believe  me when i tell you, if you ever hurt her, I'll die trying."  
"And I would die before I let anything happen to her again." He responded.  
Steve stared at him for a moment, studying his face before he was satisfied he meant what he was saying.  
He stepped to the side, with a single nod allowing him to go on his way.

 

Vision stood outside of Dani's room staring at the door, preparing himself for what she might say. He blamed himself for her being there.   
He should have looked harder. He should have insisted she got back in to the car, kept her head down. He'd replayed it a thousand times in his head, every time replacing what happened with what he could have done differently. He took a deep breath before stepping forward, slowly opening the door.  
There were no more tubes, no more machines beeping around her.  
He approached silently, never taking his eyes from her beautiful face.  
He stood over her in the room that had become his second home over the past few weeks taking a few minutes to watch her breathing all by herself.  
He gently reached forward, brushing some hair over her shoulder. As much as he longed to see her blue eyes and perfect smile he didn't want to wake her. She let out a small cough, followed by a groan and and wince before her eyes opened slowly to look straight in to his.

He looked at her with concern as his heart picked up it's pace. He thought he'd never see those eyes looking at him again.  
"Hello?" A face of confusion was all that greeted him.  
"I's so sorry" he said, looking as though he was in pain.  
"What are you?" she asked him with a frown.  
"I'm Vision. You know me" he pleaded. He prepared himself for every eventuality but it had never entered his head that she might wake up not remembering who he was.  
He looked deep in to her eyes, hoping that some tiny spark of a memory might be enough for her to realise that she knew the breaking man in front of her.

She looked down at floor for a moment before looking back in to his eyes.  
"I'm fucking with you" she said with a tiny smile before reaching a hand towards him for him to take.  
He let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding as he placed his hand in hers.  
"That wasn't funny. I'm sorry" she said as she realised she'd almost broken his heart.

His eyebrow knitted together as he sat by her legs on the bed, looking over her face.  
"How are you?" He asked her softly.  
She nodded, looking deep in to his eyes, his relief so visible to her.  
He gently ran his fingers just below the scar across her head before tracing his hand to behind her neck, leaning forward and pressing is lips to hers.  
"I've missed you" he whispered as he pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed.

"Sorry" they heard as Steve entered the room with a large black holdall "I didn't know what you meant by 'grey, racer back tank top' so I put all the grey ones I could find in there." He said placing the bag on the foot of the bed.  
"Thank you" she said with a big smile as Steve was leaving the room, giving them some privacy.

"I could have done that for you" he said as the door closed behind them.  
"I know but he was already here and I didn't want everyone down here just yet. Everything hurts and I just found out someone tried to bump me off."  
"I shouldn't have let you get out of the car." He said.  
"Don't." She stopped him before he could continue punishing himself. "I got out of the car. Me. You didn't know what was going happen, neither did I. I'm still here. With a thumping headache and a mega scar but I'm here."  
She placed a kiss to his cheek before sitting forward with a pained groan and wrapping her arms around his neck. He hugged her back gently, not  
wanting to cause her any more pain than she was already in.  
"I really want to get dressed. This is not comfortable" she complained as she sat back.  
"What do you need?" He asked her before pressing a light kiss to her forehead.  
"There should be some black leggings in there, sports bra and any of the many grey tops." She said pointing towards the bag by her feet.  
He obliged, reaching over and pulling out the clothes she requested and placing them on her lap before leave to wait outside the room to give her some privacy.  
"Like he hasn't seen me naked" she laughed to herself.

"Help!" Vision heard a muffled voice from Dani's room as he waited patiently outside.  
Opening the door, there was Dani, sitting on the edge of bed with her face obscured by her shirt, one arm where it should be through the arm hole and the  
other stuck inside the shirt along with her head.  
"It's stuck!" She whined.  
"Your head?"   
"No the thing.. In my hand."  
Vision gently unhooked the label in the back of her shirt from the cannula in the back of her hand before holding the other arm of the shirt open for her to put her hand through and pulling the shirt down over her head for her.  
"Ouch!" She complained looking at the needle now hanging half out of her hand where she'd managed to rip the tape off that was holding it in place.  
She pushed a finger down over her skin where it was inserted, looking up at Vision. "Can you pull on that please."  
"I don't think that's a good idea." he told her, worried she'd hurt herself.  
"Fine." she said, using her teeth to remove it as she pushed down with her other hand to prevent it from bleeding, screwing up her face as the long needle left her skin.  
She let out a relieved sigh before smiling at the now disappointed looking man by her side "y'know, for a super hero you worry about the weirdest things."  
she joked as she picked her leggings up, sliding off the side of the bed to finish getting dressed.  
As she stood up her legs immediately gave way beneath her. With his lightning fast reflexes Vision caught her just before she hit the ground.  
"Hi" she said with a big smile as he lifted her back up on to the bed. "Hi" he whispered back returning her smile.  
He took the trousers from her hand, gently lifting one of her feet that were dangling off the end of the bed, placing it in the leg of her trousers before doing the same with the other. He then lifted her on to the floor, holding her up so she could pull them up to her waist without falling again.

"How are we doing?" The doctor asked as he entered to room to see Vision placing her back on to the bed.  
"Jelly legs." She said looking a little concerned.  
"It's to be expected, you haven't walked for three weeks. There shouldn't be any lasting damage. The bullet that went through you back completely missed your spine. The one that entered your brain missed any part that might affect your motor functions. There's a very small chance it's a lasting effect from the swelling you had on the brain but if that's the case some physio should sort you out." He said with a smile, looking down at his clip board before continuing "I'm happy with how you're doing. You're quite remarkable. So, I think you can have something to eat when you feel ready."  
"Oh god, I'd stab a man for a pizza!" She said closing her eyes, presumably to imagine pizza.   
"Before I go, Mr. Stark has called, he knows you're awake, he'll be here to see you in a few hours. I want you to get some rest in the meantime, okay?" The doctor ordered looking over to Vision with a smile.  
"I'll see you soon. Please tell Friday if you need anything, I'll come straight back." He said, running his hand down the back of her head and placing a soft kiss on her lips.  
This earned an unusual look from the Doctor as he stood aside to let him pass.  
"See you later" she called after him as he left.  
"He was by your side the whole time." The doctor told her. "Well.. Except for when your family were here. I assume they're not ready for that?"  
"Brother's not a fan and he doesn't even know." she said with a laugh.  
"Right, get some rest, I'll let the boss know when you're ready for visitors." He said, flicking the lights off as he left the room.


	28. Chapter 28

Dani had slept through the entire night, she fell asleep around 6pm and was shocked to find she'd woken up at 10am the following morning.  
"Doctor Woods, Mr. Stark would like you to let him know when you're ready for visitors." Friday told her as she checked her phone to find two missed calls from him.  
"Thanks Friday, can you call the doctor for me?"  
"Of course."  
Dr Garin walked in to the room with a determined look on his face. "Good morning, you must have been tired." He said, looking over to the clock.  
"Blood pressure, toast and then you're going for a walk." He said said wrapping the cuff around the top of Dani's arm.  
"A walk? You're optimistic." she joked.  
"Yes i am. The longer you leave it the harder it's going to be. Just up the corridor and back, you'll have help obviously."  
"Is there a pizza at end of the corridor?"  
The doctor sighed, amused at Dani's inability take anything seriously. "If you do it, i'll get you a pizza. Deal?"  
"Deal!" she shouted, flexing her muscles in mock determination.

After breakfast Dani was wheeled out in to the corridor by a physiotherapist, she stopped just outside of her room before handing her a pair of crutches.

"I want you to use these to keep yourself stable but don't use your arms to take the weight, use your feet. Take your time, little steps I'll walk right behind you."  
She placed a hand under Dani's arm, helping her to stand from the wheelchair and lowering her arms on the crutches.  
"Right." Dani said as she looked down at her feet, then up to the door at the end of the hall twenty feet away.  
She took her first very small, very shaky step before following with her other foot. This was harder than she'd expected. She eventually reached the door before slowly turning herself around, looking down at her feet to help ensure they were going where she wanted.  
"I'm going for a cigarette when I do it" she said, earning a laugh from the woman standing a few inches behind her with her arms outstretched ready to catch her if she  
toppled over. Dani found it amusing that the woman was only a few inches taller than she was.  
"You do realise if I go down you're coming with me" she joked as she spotted Natasha at the opposite end of the corridor, leaning against the wall with her  
arms folded, a smile on her face.  
"Hi!" Dani called, surprised to see her.  
"Hey, stranger" she replied with an ever widening smile "you had us worried."  
"What, nobody naps around here?"  
Natasha walked towards Dani, stopping a few feet in front of her, looking her over before squinting slightly, focusing on the shaved half of her head, the hair now around half an inch long. "That's a good look" she said with a nod.  
"Yeah, nothing screams sexy quite like someone that nearly had their brains blown out." she joked.  
"It's just a scratch, you girl." Natasha joined in.

"Where are you going?" she asked, gesturing to Dani's crutches.  
"Back to my room."  
"I've got this" Natasha said to the physiotherapist patiently waiting behind Dani.  
She nodded before reminding Dani "small steps."  
Natasha helped her back in to the wheelchair outside of her room before taking the crutches and placing them over Dani's lap.  
She looked up to the door at the end of the hall that the therapist had disappeared behind before turning the wheelchair away and pushing Dani away from the med bay.  
"Where are we going?" Dani asked as Natasha pushed her past her room.  
"I'm stealing you."  
"Oh how romantic."

Natasha stopped Dani outside of the quarters, knocking on the door.  
It swung open to reveal Tony standing there, they could hear more voices inside.  
"It's about time!" he said in a raised voice with a massive smile, opening the door wide enough to fit the wheelchair through.  
"Dani!" she heard in a Russian accent as she entered. The entire team gathered in the kitchen around a pile of pizza boxes. Wanda was standing with tears in her eyes and a now much larger Lola cradled in her arms. She put the Lola on the floor, she rushed over to Dani, her paws slipping every now and then on the kitchen tiles as she ran with her tail wagging, making tiny yaps on her way.  
Dani bent over to catch her as she charged towards her, picking her up and squeezing her tightly as the dog licked all over her face.  
"Hey little one, did you miss me?" she asked her, giggling and moving her head around to avoid the barrage of licks and doggy dribble.  
She calmed Lola enough to be able to put her down before Natasha wheeled her up to the kitchen table.  
"Happy birthday?" she asked noticing the brightly coloured banner stuck to her kitchen cupboards.  
"Yeah, sorry" Clint said "they were all out of 'congratulations you're not in a coma" sounding almost disappointed that they didn't exist.  
Dani laughed at his pout before hearing "GROUP HUG!" from behind her.  
The team piled around her, bending over the squeeze her tightly, causing her to grow a little emotional.  
"We got you that pizza" She heard Steve's voice from somewhere in the crowd of cuddlers.

.....................................

The guys had polished off 9 pizzas and were sitting in the lounge area, some on chairs, some on the floor leaning against other's legs.  
Dani was sitting on Vision's lap with her head resting on his chest. The team had told her they were all aware of what was going on even before the attack and while some didn't quite understand it they were all happy for them.  
They were playing Never Have I Ever, sipping on non alcoholic beers in lieu of Dani's ability to drink for the foreseeable future, much to Tony's disappointment.  
"Dr Woods, Dr Garin has requested you return to the medical bay." Friday interrupted.  
there was a round of complaining that she had to leave before Dani shushed them all and told them she'd hide out there for as long as she could get away with it.  
"No you won't." Vision said as he stood up with her in his arms.  
"Ooh, you're sexy when you're in charge." Dani chirped, earning a chorus of laughter from her friends.  
"We'll clear up, don't worry!" Natasha called to her as Vision carried her over to the door.  
"You'll clear up" Clint replied to her with a smirk.  
"See you tomorrow maybe!" Dani called through a crack in the door as it was closing.

Vision placed Dani gently back on to her bed in med bay as she looked at him with a cheeky smile.  
"What is it?" He asked, feeling perplexed.  
"You know everything, right?"  
"Yes?" Why was she asking him? She knew the answer.  
"So you know there's a wheelchair in my kitchen and you just carried me all the way here" she teased him.  
"So there was." He replied with his lower lids slightly raised.  
"Don't get me wrong, it was romantic as hell but I don't think I need to be labelled as a wheelchair thief" she laughed as the doctor entered the room.

"Welcome back Dr. AWOL" he said, taking the blood pressure cuff from the machine by her side and sliding it on to her arm.  
"Sorry" she said with her very best pout and puppy eyes.  
"I just want to do some checks and if I'm happy i don't see any reason why you can't spend a night in your own bed. As long as you have someone to stay with you and keep an eye on you?" he said looking at Dani but aiming his question towards Vision.  
"I can stay with her." He answered.  
Dani gave him a huge toothy grin "Ooh yes, I need bath!"  
"You're on the floor above I'm told so if you need anything I'll be here through the night." The doctor offered.

Dani's heart rate, blood pressure and CT scans all came back normal and she over the moon to be able to spend the night in her bed. Not least because she got to spend the night with the object of her affections but the hospital beds didn't leave much room her normal starfish sleeping position.

Vision had carried her back to her quarters and placed her on the sofa before draping a blanket over her and handing her a perfect cup of tea.  
"Come and talk to me" she said, sitting up and patting the space on the sofa next to her.  
He sat, wrapping and arm around her as she curled up leaning against his side with her head resting on his chest, listening to his heart beat.  
"How have you been?" She asked, entwining her fingers with his.  
"I've been fine but I've missed you." He said squeezing her hand softly.  
"Anything happen while I was away? Any new feelings? Anything you want to talk about?"  
"I killed a man."  
"Well, that was sudden." She said, looking up in to his eyes.  
"He was unarmed, he was restrained. But I was angry."  
Dani sat back now reading his expression. He looked.. Haunted.  
"Why were you angry?" She whispered.  
"He took you away from me."  
"It was the man that shot me?"  
He just nodded, looking down at the floor.  
"Did you mean to do it?" she asked.  
"I think I did. I knew what I was doing, I wanted to hurt him but I was meant to defend not to kill."  
Dani thought for a moment for a way to explain what she was thinking, letting out a sigh.  
"What you were meant for doesn't matter any more. You are well beyond anything anyone who hand a hand in your creation could have imagined. You're feeling things for the first time and even with your knowledge, right from wrong isn't something that you instinctively know. It's learned behaviour. What you did wasn't wrong. There's no telling what that man would have done if you hadn't done what you did. Yes, to a point you were meant to defend and that's exactly what you did. You defended me. You defended everyone else that was a potential target. That includes Tony, Bruce and yourself. Sometimes defending means killing. You know that."  
"I understand." He said turning to look at her "I'll run you a bath" He asked with a smile, completely off topic.  
"You're sure you're okay?" she checked.  
"I am now. I'm glad to have you back." He said, getting up, heading to the bathroom.

He stayed in there for five minutes waiting for the bath to fill before helping her in to the bath filled with bubbles, sitting on the side talking to her about what her plans might be when she's recovered and when her work with Bruce is finished.

He helped her step out of the bath when she was done, averting his eyes as she wrapped herself in a towel and scrunched her hair up in another before letting the damp waves fall down her back.  
He slowly scooped her up in to his arms when she was ready, taking care not to hurt her and carried her in to her bed, covered her over with a blanket, placing a soft kiss on her lips. He was heading for the bedroom door when he heard her whisper. "Where are you going?" She asked as she pulled her damp towel from around herself and dropping it to the floor.  
"I thought you might like the bed to yourself, you haven't slept in it for over three weeks."  
"I haven't slept next to you in three weeks either." She said with a yawn, shuffling over to the side "Unless you'd rather sleep on the sofa?"  
"I'd much rather be with you" he smiled.  
He slid in to the bed by the side of her stretching an arm out for her to rest her head on his chest as he pulled the blankets up to her shoulders before  
gently wrapping his arms around her.  
"Does it hurt?" he asked as he slowly stroked up and down her back under her shirt, running his fingers softly over the raised scar where the bullet entered and her kidney was removed. She shook her head "No, it feels nice" she said with a tired smile.  
"The scar feels nice?"  
"No, you stroking my back" she clarified with a laugh, running her hands over the defined muscles of his chest.

She suddenly propped herself up on an elbow, looking down in to his eyes as he looked up to her with his head on the pillow.  
"What is it?" He asked her, furrowing his brows.  
"That wasn't a dream was it?" She'd thought about it a lot since she woke up, the dream of him taking her back to beneath the stars, begging her to wake up.  
It was too vivid, too perfect.  
"No" he whispered, shaking his head.  
"Did you mean what you said?"  
"Every word."  
"Say it again" she asked as she lay down moving closer to him, pressing her body to his and closing her eyes.  
He moved his hand from her scar to lift her chin, encouraging her to open her eyes to look in to his.  
His eyes flicked between hers for a few seemingly very long seconds as she waited.  
"I love you, Dani."  
She swallowed a lump in her throat, feeling her heart pound.  
She kissed him softly, her lips lingering on his for a moment before she looked up at him with an emotional smile. "I love you too."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick edit..  
> Just to say thank you to everyone that's left kudos and comments.  
> This was my first ever attempt at any form of creative writing and I'm so pleased that so many of you have read it and enjoyed it!! Even with the typos I'm still finding every time I look over it...
> 
> A Bucky fic is in the works but major writer's block has stalled it for quite some time.  
> I ADORE Bucky so much and I didn't want to rush it and fuff it up.   
> I've had a dash of inspiration from Civil War (how amazing was that?!) so I'll be getting back to work on that as soon as I can.   
> Single mum, working and studying for my degree doesn't leave a lot of spare time so bear with me here haha.  
> Thank you again, guys. <3


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